Lot 396: UMEHARA RYUZABURO (1888-1986)

'STANDING NUDE UNDER A PEACH TREE' AND 'STANDING NUDE UNDER A TREE'
INK AND GANSAI [MINERAL PIGMENT] ON GOLD SILK, SEALED RYU, FRAME AND MOUNT WITH ATTACHED LABEL SIGNED R. UMEHARA 1949 AND STICKER FROM OKAMURA TAMONDO INSCRIBED UMEHARA RYUZABURO SHA, NUMBERED 45 AND 46, PAINTED IN 1949
36 X 6CM. EACH (2)

ACCOMPANIED BY A CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICATION, NO. 004-684, ISSUED BY THE TOKYO BIJUTSU CLUB, DATED 25 JULY 2004.

UMEHARA RYUZABURO WAS BORN IN KYOTO, THE SON OF A WEALTHY SILK MERCHANT. HE WAS A STUDENT OF THE KANSAI BIJUTSUIN AND IN 1906 OF ASAI CHU (1856-1907), ONE OF THE LEADING YOGA ARTISTS OF THE DAY. IN 1908 HE MADE HIS FIRST JOURNEY TO EUROPE WHERE HE STUDIED AT THE ACADEMIE JULIAN IN PARIS. IT WAS IN PARIS THAT HE FIRST ENCOUNTERED THE WORK OF RENOIR AND IT HAD AN OVERWHELMING EFFECT UPON HIM. HE TRAVELLED TO THE SOUTH OF FRANCE TO VISIT THE ARTIST AT HIS HOME IN CAGNES-SUR-MER AND WAS SOON TAKEN ON AS A STUDENT. IT IS RENOIR'S INFLUENCE THAT IS MOST APPARENT IN HIS EARLY WORK.

UMEHARA USED HIS TIME IN EUROPE NOT ONLY TO ACQUAINT HIMSELF WITH THE CURRENT MODERN ART MOVEMENTS (THE INFLUENCE OF THE FAUVES AND PICASSO ARE EVIDENT IN HIS LATER WORK) BUT ALSO TO EXPERIENCE THE LIGHT IN FRANCE, SPAIN AND ITALY. HIS TRAVELS SEEMED TO LIBERATE HIS PAINTING FROM ITS EARLY RIGIDITY AND UPON HIS RETURN TO JAPAN, WHEN HE HELD HIS FIRST ONE-MAN SHOW, HE WAS QUICKLY RECOGNIZED AS ONE OF THE LEADING ARTISTS OF THE DAY.

BY 1919 UMEHARA FELT THAT HIS WORK HAD BECOME STALE AND THAT HE WAS SUFFERING A CREATIVE BLOCK. THE NEWS OF THE DEATH OF RENOIR CAME AS A SHOCK AND UMEHARA IMMEDIATELY TRAVELED TO FRANCE TO EXPRESS HIS CONDOLENCES TO THE FAMILY. HE REMAINED IN FRANCE UNTIL 1921 AND, RETURNING TO JAPAN, FOUND THAT HE WAS ABLE TO PAINT AGAIN.

UMEHARA'S CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCE OF THE SILK WEAVING INDUSTRY OF KYOTO, WITH ITS RICH COLOR AND TRADITIONAL DESIGN SENSE, COMBINED WITH HIS KNOWLEDGE OF RENOIR AND THE FAUVES, NOW ENABLED HIM TO CREATE A DISTINCTIVE STYLE THAT BRIDGED JAPANESE AND FRENCH ART. UMEHARA WAS WELL AWARE OF HIS CULTURAL HERITAGE AND ALSO OF THE DANGER OF SLAVISH IMITATION OF THE WEST. HIS ATTEMPTS TO BALANCE THESE COMPETING INFLUENCES ARE FOUND THROUGHOUT HIS WORK OF THE 1920S AND 1930S AND ARE MOST SUCCESSFULLY RESOLVED AFTER HIS DISCOVERY OF CHINA AND TAIWAN. IT IS THE WORK OF HIS PEKING PERIOD AND THE WORKS HE PRODUCED IN JAPAN SOON AFTERWARDS, THAT ARE NOW CONSIDERED HIS GREATEST, AND WHERE WE SEE THE MERGING OF EUROPEAN AND JAPANESE TRADITIONS. THESE CITYSCAPES AND THE JAPANESE LANDSCAPES WHICH FOLLOWED WHILE HE WAS PROFESSOR AT THE TOKYO SCHOOL OF FINE ARTS BETWEEN 1944 AND 1952, REPRESENT A PERIOD OF ASTONISHING PRODUCTIVITY AND SUSTAINED QUALITY IN HIS WORK. IN 1952 HE RECEIVED THE ORDER OF CULTURAL MERIT AND IN 1956 HE WAS AWARDED THE ASAHI CULTURE PRIZE.

THIS PAINTING IS ACCOMPANIED BY A TANKA (31-SYLLABLE VERSE) COMPOSED BY THE ARTIST HIMSELF. IT IS BOLDLY INSCRIBED, ENTIRELY IN KANA, IN A PURPOSELY INELEGANT SCRIPT:

HARU NO SONO
KURENAI NIOU
MOMO NO HANA
SHITATERU MICHI NI
IDETARI OTOME

THE MAIDEN SETS OUT
ALONG A PATH AGLOW
WITH THE CRIMSON BRILLIANCE
OF FRAGRANT PEACH BLOSSOMS
IN A SPRING GARDEN.

THE INTEREST OF THE POEM DERIVES FROM THE USE OF THE RATHER UNUSUAL VERB FORM SHITATERU, WHICH IS USUALLY RESERVED TO DESCRIBE THE BEAUTIFUL EFFECT OF LIGHT SHINING THROUGH FLOWERING TREES, BUT WHICH HERE CAN ALSO BE CONNECTED TO THE YOUNG MAIDEN HERSELF WHO GLOWS BRIGHT RED IN THE REFLECTION OF PEACH BLOSSOMS ON A SPRING DAY. IT ALSO CONJURES UP THE IMAGE OF SHITATERU-HIME, LITERALLY, "THE PRINCESS WHO GLOWS LIKE A FLOWER," A DEITY FROM ANCIENT JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY, KNOWN FOR HER BEAUTIFUL VOICE AND IN LEGEND CALLED THE GODDESS OF POETRY. REFERRING TO THE WOMAN IN THE POEM AS AN OTOME, MAIDEN OR VIRGIN, THE ARTIST SEEMS TO SUGGEST THE IMAGE SHOULD BE READ AS A REPRENTATION OF SEXUAL INNOCENCE IN A PRISTINE NATURAL SETTING.

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price plus buyer's premium