Arabia no onno (Arab woman)

Hirakyama Ikuo has recently been elected to the French Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, one of only three of his countrymen in this organization. His most well-known subjects are Japanese temples or Middle Eastern themes relating to the Silk Road. He is one of a group called the five 'mountains' (yama) of Japanese art: Higashiyama Kaii (see lots 314 and 315), Takayama Tatsuo (see lots 317-320), Kayama Matazo (see lots 322-325) and Sugiyama Yasushi (see lot 316).