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Lot Essay
published:
Azabu Museum of Art, ed., Azabu bijutsukan: Shuzohin zuroku (Azabu Museum of Art: Catalogue of the collection) (Tokyo: Azabu Museum of Art, 1986), no. 43.
Dai Hokusai ten: Edo ga unda sekai no eshi (Great Hokusai exhibition: A world artist born of Edo), edited by Asahi Shimbun, Tobu Museum of Art, Otsu City Museum of History, Yamaguchi Prefectural Museum of Art, Nagata Seiji, editor-in-chief, exh. cat. (Tokyo: Asahi Shimbun, 1993), pl. 23.
Hashimoto Ken'ichiro, " 'Katsushika Hokusai to sono sekai ten' tokushu" (Special issue on 'The exhibition of Katsushika Hokusai and his world'), Ukiyo-e geijutsu/Ukiyo-e Art 82 (December 1984), nn.
Hokusaikan, ed., Katsushika Hokusai hyakuyonjunensai kinen ten (Exhibition commemorating the 140th anniversary of Katsushika Hokusai), exh. cat. (Obuse: Hokusaikan, 1989), color pl.
Katsushika Hokusai ten (Katsushika Hokusai exhibition), edited by Sansai Shinsha, exh. cat. (Tokyo: [Sansai Shinsha], 1985), no. 508.
Katsushika Hokusai to sono sekai ten (Exhibition of Katsushika Hokusai and his world), exh. cat. (Sapporo: Hokkaido Shimbunsha and Japan Ukiyo-e Society, 1984), no. 61.
Kobayashi Tadashi, ed., Azabu bijutsu kogeikan (Azabu Museum of Arts and Crafts), vol. 6 of Nikuhitsu ukiyo-e taikan (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1995), no. 36.
Nagata Seiji, ed., Monogatari-e (Narrative painting), vol. 5 of Hokusai bijutsukan, 2nd ed. (Tokyo: Shueisha, 1994), pl. 101.
The meditating Bodhidharma (Daruma in Japanese), the first Zen patriarch, may seem a strange subject for an ukiyo-e artist, but the Buddhist saint was linked to prostitutes in the popular imagination (see lot 94). Hokusai painted a huge Daruma at the Edo temple Gokokuji in 1804 using a straw broom for a brush and a sake cask to hold ink. The image was reported to be 350 square meters. Hokusai later repeated this publicity stunt in Nagoya in 1817 to help promote the Manga sketchbooks.
Based on evidence gleaned from datable surimono, it seems that Hokusai used the art name Kyukyushin (also read Kukushin) only for a year or so beginning in 1805. The same combination of signature and Kimo dasoku seal is found on other Hokusai paintings: Beauty at Mirror (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), Tea-whisk Vendor (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), and Courtesan at a Round Window (Cincinnati Art Museum). Asano Shugo observed that the Kimo dasoku seal impression on each of these paintings is damaged in several places.
Azabu Museum of Art, ed., Azabu bijutsukan: Shuzohin zuroku (Azabu Museum of Art: Catalogue of the collection) (Tokyo: Azabu Museum of Art, 1986), no. 43.
Dai Hokusai ten: Edo ga unda sekai no eshi (Great Hokusai exhibition: A world artist born of Edo), edited by Asahi Shimbun, Tobu Museum of Art, Otsu City Museum of History, Yamaguchi Prefectural Museum of Art, Nagata Seiji, editor-in-chief, exh. cat. (Tokyo: Asahi Shimbun, 1993), pl. 23.
Hashimoto Ken'ichiro, " 'Katsushika Hokusai to sono sekai ten' tokushu" (Special issue on 'The exhibition of Katsushika Hokusai and his world'), Ukiyo-e geijutsu/Ukiyo-e Art 82 (December 1984), nn.
Hokusaikan, ed., Katsushika Hokusai hyakuyonjunensai kinen ten (Exhibition commemorating the 140th anniversary of Katsushika Hokusai), exh. cat. (Obuse: Hokusaikan, 1989), color pl.
Katsushika Hokusai ten (Katsushika Hokusai exhibition), edited by Sansai Shinsha, exh. cat. (Tokyo: [Sansai Shinsha], 1985), no. 508.
Katsushika Hokusai to sono sekai ten (Exhibition of Katsushika Hokusai and his world), exh. cat. (Sapporo: Hokkaido Shimbunsha and Japan Ukiyo-e Society, 1984), no. 61.
Kobayashi Tadashi, ed., Azabu bijutsu kogeikan (Azabu Museum of Arts and Crafts), vol. 6 of Nikuhitsu ukiyo-e taikan (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1995), no. 36.
Nagata Seiji, ed., Monogatari-e (Narrative painting), vol. 5 of Hokusai bijutsukan, 2nd ed. (Tokyo: Shueisha, 1994), pl. 101.
The meditating Bodhidharma (Daruma in Japanese), the first Zen patriarch, may seem a strange subject for an ukiyo-e artist, but the Buddhist saint was linked to prostitutes in the popular imagination (see lot 94). Hokusai painted a huge Daruma at the Edo temple Gokokuji in 1804 using a straw broom for a brush and a sake cask to hold ink. The image was reported to be 350 square meters. Hokusai later repeated this publicity stunt in Nagoya in 1817 to help promote the Manga sketchbooks.
Based on evidence gleaned from datable surimono, it seems that Hokusai used the art name Kyukyushin (also read Kukushin) only for a year or so beginning in 1805. The same combination of signature and Kimo dasoku seal is found on other Hokusai paintings: Beauty at Mirror (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), Tea-whisk Vendor (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), and Courtesan at a Round Window (Cincinnati Art Museum). Asano Shugo observed that the Kimo dasoku seal impression on each of these paintings is damaged in several places.