Lot 616: Morita Shiryu (1912-1998) Ryu wa ryu o shiru (Dragon knows dragon), 1967

Morita Shiryu (1912-1998)
Ryu wa ryu o shiru (Dragon knows dragon), 1967
Large four-panel screen with three characters brushed in aluminum flake pigment in polyvinyl acetate medium and yellow alkyd varnish on paper
Artist's certificate on reverse titled Ryu wa ryu o shiru (Dragon knows dragon), signed Morita Shiryu, sealed Sei no in and dated 1967
44 1/2 x 88 3/16in (113 x 224cm)
Footnotes

Provenance
Previously sold, Butterfield and Butterfield, San Francisco, November 16-17, 1994, lot 2314

Inspired by an elementary-school teacher to assume the name Shiryu, literally "Child Dragon," Morita used the three characters seen on this lot as the subject for the first major calligraphy he exhibited overseas, at the fifth São Paulo Bienal in 1959, and would continue to produce variations on this theme for much of the rest of his career, often in characters that are so barely readable as to resemble contemporary Western works of abstract art. Each calligraphy was a personal expression of Morita's commitment to the Buddhist principle of self-knowledge, as well as an assertion of his dragon-like artistic ability.