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Lot Essay
Rosetsu, along with Soga Shohaku and Ito Jakuchu, was at the cutting edge of his times. The three were known as the "Three Eccentrics,” which meant painting in a highly individualistic manner, but was also related to character. Rosetsu, for example, was known as something of an argumentative hothead and his behavior and excessive drinking are part of the background that adds to the enjoyment of his pictures.
The son of a low-ranking samurai, he decided early on to study with Maruyama Okyo in Kyoto, but soon opened his own studio, discarded his teacher’s careful realism, and went on to become a pioneer of modernist expressionism. He died on an outing to Osaka at the age of only forty-six—some say an envious rival put poison in his boxed lunch. Others tell of him slitting his throat due to financial troubles. What is certain is that he was unusually confident and relished novelty, with a streak of vulgarity. He was quick-witted, versatile and had exceptional technical skill.
Rosetsu creates mischievous, comical birds and beasts with attitude and character. They seem to wink at us. The subject of monkey and moon is a venerable Zen theme reaching back to the Muromachi period: the unenlightened monkey often reaches out for the moon, symbol of enlightenment. However, this monkey may have other things on its mind. The pale-gray ink ground painted around areas of white paper such as the moon and the monkey is the result of mixing animal glue with the ink.
The wet ink wash defining the flattened rock with crushing wave is very similar to the hills in Rosetsu’s Red Cliff screens in the Nezu Museum, Tokyo. The screens offered here date from the late 1790s. By around 1798, the artist abbreviates, and almost eliminates, the third stroke in the grass radical that sits on top of “Ro” (蘆) in his signature.
The son of a low-ranking samurai, he decided early on to study with Maruyama Okyo in Kyoto, but soon opened his own studio, discarded his teacher’s careful realism, and went on to become a pioneer of modernist expressionism. He died on an outing to Osaka at the age of only forty-six—some say an envious rival put poison in his boxed lunch. Others tell of him slitting his throat due to financial troubles. What is certain is that he was unusually confident and relished novelty, with a streak of vulgarity. He was quick-witted, versatile and had exceptional technical skill.
Rosetsu creates mischievous, comical birds and beasts with attitude and character. They seem to wink at us. The subject of monkey and moon is a venerable Zen theme reaching back to the Muromachi period: the unenlightened monkey often reaches out for the moon, symbol of enlightenment. However, this monkey may have other things on its mind. The pale-gray ink ground painted around areas of white paper such as the moon and the monkey is the result of mixing animal glue with the ink.
The wet ink wash defining the flattened rock with crushing wave is very similar to the hills in Rosetsu’s Red Cliff screens in the Nezu Museum, Tokyo. The screens offered here date from the late 1790s. By around 1798, the artist abbreviates, and almost eliminates, the third stroke in the grass radical that sits on top of “Ro” (蘆) in his signature.