Japanese Single Panel Painting Formal Abstraction

Lacquer painting on wood. Signature reads: Shigeru.

Lacquer painting on wood.

Meiji period (1868-1912) ink painting of plum branches in bloom against a full moon with calligraphy. The calligraphy is a poem about winter. Signature reads: Matsuura Ryosai, Dated:...

Beautiful fine detail of a variety of wild grasses. Lacquer on wood panel with carved surface and metal rim. Exhibited at National Nitten Exhibition 1969.

Lacquer and aluminum on wood. Exhibited at Northern Japan Art Exhibition. Signature reads: Yuki.

with thought to be Izumo no Okuni (1578-1613). Mineral pigments and gold dust on mulberry paper with silk brocade border.

Tanaka Tessen (b.1890) Dahlias and Roosters Taisho period, circa 1920 Framed painting. Mineral pigments and ink on silk. Dimensions (framed): H. 159 cm x W. 97 cm x D. 2.5 cm (62.5” x 38” x 1”) An ornate and complex composition in which the artist explores almost the entire painting surface. The coloration is bold and evocative and the tinted silk ground recreates the warm golden glow of sunset. Soft, luminous brushwork details the black feathers of the roosters, which seem to cloud and blur in counterpoint to the sharper points of the eyes and beaks. Their brilliant red combs balance the composition, echoing the rich burgundy hues of the dahlias; the flowers exquisite and lifelike. Dahlias were an exotic subject favored by painters of the Taisho era. The painting belongs to the school of Kyoto Nihonga, exemplifying the principles of decorative elegance and consumate brush technique with which it was intimately associated. Painters of the time relied on the Shijo school method, basing the forms of the composition from life sketches. Sometimes they were then integrated with elements derived from Chinese bird and flower...

Mitani Toshuku (1577-1654) “Falcon” Wall panel, ink and light color on paper. Upper seal: Mitani Lower seal: Toshuku Dimensions: Each 118.5 cm x 51 cm x 2 cm (46.5” x 20” x .75”) Individual falcon paintings by Mitani Toshuku (1577-1654), an early artist of the Unkoku School. Founded by Unkoku Togan (1547–1618), a master of the Momoyama period, the Unkoku school enjoyed long lasting patronage in southern Japan. Togan was a retainer of the Mori family in present day Yamaguchi prefecture. Members of the school considered themselves to be in the artistic lineage of Sesshu Toyo...

Beautiful, large two-panel byôbu (room divider) with a serene painting of red-leaved bamboo and rocks on an oxidized silver leaf background. Silver leaf continuously undergoes the process of oxidation, which creates a beautiful aged patina. On the left an inscription from a ‘Zekku’ poem by the Chinese poet Yang Zai (1271?1323), titled: Shan shang zhu (bamboo (painted) on a fan). Translated as : Why would people plant a lot of bamboos? The shade of a single culm is also beautiful. In the autumn night it rocks on the wind, And the fresh sound echoes in my dream. Dated: Shôwa, the year kôshin (1938). Signature unknown...

Anonymous Summer willow and sparrows Taisho period, circa 1920 Framed painting. Mineral pigments, mica, gold, ink and gofun on silk Dimensions (framed): H. 98 cm x W. 135 cm x D...

Spring landscape by an unknown painter of the Rinpa school, 19th century, six-panel ink painted on gold leaf on rice paper. The flowers are made with the "gofun" technique, natural or pigmented white oyster powder. Rinpa (? ?, Rinpa) is one of the major historical schools of Japanese painting. the style was consolidated by the brothers Ogata Korin (1658–1716) and Ogata Kenzan...

Serene Japanese Showa period two-panel folding byobu screen depicting a large spring blossoming prunus tree or plum tree. Beautifully painted with ink and natural color pigments on m...