Lot 260: Nagasawa Rosetsu (1754-1799) Maruyama School, late 18th century

Maruyama School, late 18th century
Kakejiku, in ink on paper, depicting in close-up a recumbent black ox, deliberately cropped, realistically and boldly rendered with fluid and powerful brush strokes as if the beast is coming alive within the confines of the long, narrow format, signed Rosetsu Jyoga (initially painted by Rosetsu) with seal Rosetsu, suggesting the painting might be part of a collaborative painting, with wood storage box. 106cm x 26cm (41¾in x 10¾in). (2).

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The so-called 'Three Eccentrics of the Edo period', Rosetsu, Jakuchu (lot 261) and Shohaku, owe their sobriquet both to the nature of their art and to stories - most probably apocryphal - about their personalities and behaviour. The fame of Rosetsu however seems to derive more from his paintings, which are filled with humour and the unexpected, than from his undeniably controversial personality. Rosetsu was born into a low-ranking Samurai family. He entered Maruyama Okyo's studio and became arguably the most talented of the Master's pupils. An eccentric and violent character, he was allegedly expelled from Okyo's studio due to his idiosyncratic manner. After becoming independent he developed his own style. He was particularly fond of animal subjects.

Rosetsu turned to the subject of cattle several times during his career, painting them on folding and sliding screens as well as on hanging scrolls. For another kakejiku of the same subject by the artist and painted from the same unusual viewpoint, see Chiba Municipal Art Museum ed., Botsugo Nihyakunen Kinen - Nagasawa Rosetsu, Exhibition Catalogue, Nihon Keizai Shinbunsha, Tokyo, 2000, p.130, pl.50 and an octopus in a similarly, closely cropped-composition, ibid., p.133. See also an eight-panel sliding door painted with oxen in sumi on paper in the Wakayama Prefectural Museum.