Lot 356: Komai Genki (Japanese 1747-1797)

kakemono, depicting a girl picking a branch of a red maple tree, watercolor and pigments on silk. Illustrated in "Uninhibited Brush" by Jack Hillier, plate 54. The image is based on the Noh play where Taira No Koremochi meets a beautiful woman who has come to Mt. Tora Kushi to view the scarlet maple leaves; he is at first charmed by her but in fact, she is a demon in human form and in the end he exorcises her. This was a popular story appearing in ballads and dramas of the Edo period. Genki was student of Maruyama Okyo (1733-95). Image 4'7/8" x 1'9". A brilliant designer and colorist, Genki was responsible for having popularized the Maruyama style in the late nineteenth century, causing it to become the most popular school of painting in Japan's thriving art culture. Purchased from David Newman in 1984; original purchase receipts available. Included is correspondence about this scroll between John Campbell M.D and David Newman, discussing Mr. Ho's departure from the Cleveland Museum of Art.