Japanese Two Panel Screen Dragon in the Mist

Chinese School landscape ink painting on gilded silk by Yukimatsu Shunpo, signed and dated 1924. Yukimatsu Shunpo was born in Oita in 1897 and studied under Himejima Chikugai in Osak...

Japanese Two Panel Screen: Ink Landscape on Silk, Meiji period (1868 - 1912) painting of a man riding a mule on a pathway through the Kurotani mountains with a thatched roof shelter ...

Japanese two-panel screen: Temples Through Misty Forest. Chinese School landscape ink painting on gilded silk by Yukimatsu Shunpo, signed and dated 1924. Yukimatsu Shunpo was born in...

Rivers of mist, falling water and moss draped trees evolve into a mystical landscape. Ink on silk, bordered in fine mulberry paper. Sold as a pair.

Kaiho Yusetsu (1598-1677) Tiger and Dragon Early Edo Period, Circa 1650 A Pair of Six-fold Japanese Screens. Ink and slight color on paper. Dimensions: Each screen: H. 171 cm x W. 380 cm (67.5’’ x 149.5’’) In this pair of early Edo period Japanese screens a group of tigers prowl in a bamboo grove whipped with fierce wind, while a dragon claws through clouds and mist. The dragon embodies elemental qualities - looming out of the mist, the coils of its body disappearing in the clouds. The dragon is calling for rain, symbolizing spring which is considered the fountain of life. On the other side, the tigers calls for the wind, symbolizing autumn which is considered the end of life. Tigers were familiar motifs within Japanese art from ancient times though the animals were imaginary to the people in the 17th century. While dragons and tigers are usually associated as sacred and ferocious, in this painting, both animals have rather amusing expressions. The tigers appear to glare at the dragon with cat-like eyes, and the look on the swirling dragon’s face appears almost affectionate - lending a playful flair to an otherwise magnificent theme. The tiger and dragon are cosmological symbols of the balancing forces in the world. Screens such as this were originally meant to express the fluctuating nature of the world. For Japanese in the early Edo period, they likely suggested the powers of the cosmos. In Japan the tiger and dragon motif was originally absorbed into the circles of Zen monasteries before spreading into the secular world. The theme especially appealed to the military classes with the Kano school, the official painters to the Shogun and the samurai, being the leading contributors. The painter of this pair of screens, Kaiho Yusetsu (1598-1677), was closely patronized by the third Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu. In his later years he worked with Kano school artists...

Kano Osanobu (狩野養信) Osanobu Kano (born August 18, 1796; died June 12, 1846) was the ninth painter of the Kobikicho Kano School in the Edo period. His common name was Shozaburo. His father was Naganobu KANO, and Tadanobu KANO was his son. His Go (pen name) was Osanobu Seisenin, Kaishinsai, and Gyokusen. Brief Personal History He was born the eldest son of Naganobu ISENIN during the Edo period. He was first sent to serve at Edo Castle at the age of 15, and it appears that he was apparently pushed by his father to perform various public tasks for the Kanon School. He kept a diary for 36 years, starting from the day before he first went into service at Edo Castle until the day before he died. The diary is entitles "Official Service Diary" (it consists of 52 volumes that are maintained at the Tokyo National Museum, and 4 volumes that are separately maintained at the different families), and have become the focus of a lot of attention in recent years for the detailed information they present on the daily life and work of a prestigious official painter. The reading of the characters of his name was originally "Takenobu"; however, with the birth of the first son of the Shongun Ieyoshi TOKUGAWA in 1813, whose name was Takechiyo, having a sylable with the same pronunciation of "Take"was deemed to be inappropriate, and was therefore changed to "Osanobu". Because Takenobu died the following year, after which he was referred to as Gyokujuin, Osanobu changed his pen name Gyokusen he had used until that point to Seisenin, in order to avoid using the same Chinese charcter pronounced alike. In 1819, he attained the second highest rank for a Buddhist priest, Hogen, and assumed the role of head of the family after his father passed away in 1828. In 1834 he attained the highest rank for a Buddhist priest, Hoin. He oversaw the rennovation of the wall paintings of Nishinomaru Palace of Edo Castle from 1838 to 1839, and Honmaru Palace of it from 1844 to 1846. It is thought that Osanobu later died due to the fatigue...

Tani Bunchu (1823-1876) Tiger and Dragon A pair of six-panel Japanese screens. Ink on paper. In this grand pair of Japanese Ryuko-zu screens the tiger crouches low to the ground, ...

Late 19th / early 20th century Japanese Meiji period two-panel folding byobu screen featuring a winter landscape with a Chinese country villa and distant village. Kano School screen ...