Hanging Scroll with Scene of Bamboo Grove

Chinese scholars used natural imagery and scenery to aid in contemplation within the walls of their studios. The complex beauty inherent to landscapes and natural forms inspired clea...

This exquisite hanging scroll painting from the late 18th century depicts the sacred form of the bodhisattva Guanyin, known in Japanese Buddhism as Shō Kannon, or Guze Kannon. Descri...

This colorful painted scroll is a Taoist ceremonial painting attributed to the Yao or Mien minority culture of southern China, northern Vietnam and other neighboring regions. The sma...

Believing that the departed continue to hold influence over the lives of the living, many Chinese households honor their ancestors in private family rituals, invoking their spirits f...

Exquisitely painted with delicate line work and a subdued color palette, this Chinese scroll painting is an Late 20th-century reproduction of a...

Although western painting was initially embraced during Japan’s Meiji period (1868-1912), artists brought on a revival of traditional painting styles as they sought to create a modern Japanese style with roots in the past. This exquisite hanging scroll demonstrates the preference for soft layering of gray tones with judicious use of color. The landscape is rendered in soft ink washes that subtly distinguish between water, mountain, and sky. The scroll painting...

Bamboo in moonlight Gamo Rakan (1784-1866) Hanging scroll, ink on silk. Dimensions: Scroll: 201 cm x 58 cm Image: 137 cm x 45 cm In this early 19th century work by Gamo Rakan a light ink wash applied to the silk background silhouettes the moon and suggests the atmosphere of early evening. Even though it is a literati subject, Rakan’s bamboo is quite realistic with a strong decorative style. The painting finds its inspiration from Chinese Ming dynasty painters who often used a single-tone, jet black stroke to emphasize the calligraphic nature of bamboo. In a different era, decorative would have been seen as somewhat unrefined. But increasingly in the Edo period, it was the hallmark of high style. The Japanese people, in particular the rising merchant class, had gradually become apathetic toward the traditional Sesshu and Kano schools of painting. Chinese professional and amateur painters living in the port of Nagasaki during the 18th century had a profound effect on Japanese painting and the freshness of their style and its decorative appeal contributed greatly to its popularity. Gamo Rakan’s teacher, Tani Buncho...

Large Chinese hanging scroll having a pair of poetic couplets with a cyclical date autumn 1944/2004 Jishen and signed Zhang with 2 seals. The sight mea...

Seasonal autumn Chinese hanging scroll painting depicting colorful Camellias with a calligraphy signature and date. Crafted on hand-made mulberry paper wi...

A fine matching pair of hanging scrolls ink on paper mounted in green brocade borders circa Edo period (17-18th century). The Kano school painting depicts wild geese in the reeds by the margin of water, a popular subject borrowed from the Chinese tradition. Both painting were signed as Tanyu with a red seal of Morinobu, his birth name. The storage box is also present and was inscribed with the title Painting of Geese and Reeds and Kano Tanyu...

This painting represents a man waiting under a dark tree. The composition is extremely simple but suggestive. The artist, with few elements, can, in fact, create a vivid and dynamic scene, based on the tension between the strong ink stain that renders the tree and the elegant figure of the man, dressed in an aristocratic robe. Painter and designer, Kamisaka Sekka...

Two Japanese scroll painting depicts scenes from the Tale of Genji (Genji-E), from Edo period. These painting were purchased from Odewara Shoten in the...