SAKAKI HYAKUSEN (1698-1753) AND YOSA BUSON (1716-1783)*

Details

SAKAKI HYAKUSEN (1698-1753) AND YOSA BUSON (1716-1783)*

Shoki (1749) and Demon (1777)

Hanging scroll, ink on paper, 104 x 43 cm., signed Hyakusen shujin, sealed and dated 1749, and also signed Yahantei-sha and with two seals, dated 1777, mounted on brocade, in fitted wood box with inscription by the Nanga painter Nakanishi Koseki (1807 - 1884)

Literature

Published: Japanese Ghosts and Demons, edited by Stephen Addiss (New York: George Braziller Inc., 1985), cat. 38, p. 86; Addiss, Zenga and Nanga: Paintings by Japanese Monks and Scholars, Selections from the Kurt and Millie Gitter Collection (New Orleans Museum of Art, 1976), pl. 32; Bulletin, Niigata Museum, Japan, 1970.

Lot Essay

This humorous and light-hearted portrayal of Shoki, the demon queller, is loosely brushed in the Japanese haiga (haiku painting) manner. Hyakusen painted the figure of Shoki in 1749 in wet washes. In 1777 Buson, who was strongly influenced by Hyakusen, acquired the painting and added a sketch of a fleeing demon. It appears that Shoki is being baited by the demon who clasps his hands and laughs as he runs ahead.