Lot Essay
Born in Hiroshima Prefecture, Hirayama Ikuo studied nihonga at the Tokyo Art School. After graduating in 1952, he became the student of Maeda Seison (1885-1977). Like Seison, Ikuo became a member of the re-established Japan Art Institute, where he had his debut in 1959 and joined the teaching staff of the Tokyo University of Arts and Music (the later incarnation of the Tokyo Art School) in 1973. In 1976, Ikuo won the Japan Arts Prize, awarded annually to one artist by a private organization.
Ikuo has devoted much of his career to tracing the roots of Japanese culture in large-scale paintings. His themes are often taken from Japanese history or Buddhist legend, but his studies have led him to depict historically important sites in India, China, and even the Near East. The three watercolors in the sale are such subjects, and are perhaps records of Ikuo's travels. The ruins of Persepolis, the ritual center of the ancient Persian Empire, are testament to a once mighty Eastern power. The Taj Mahal (see lot 8) is one of India's great Islamic monuments, while the sketch of the Buddha (see lot 7) is both a record of a Buddhist statue and a memento from the site of the historical Buddha's first sermon.
Ikuo has devoted much of his career to tracing the roots of Japanese culture in large-scale paintings. His themes are often taken from Japanese history or Buddhist legend, but his studies have led him to depict historically important sites in India, China, and even the Near East. The three watercolors in the sale are such subjects, and are perhaps records of Ikuo's travels. The ruins of Persepolis, the ritual center of the ancient Persian Empire, are testament to a once mighty Eastern power. The Taj Mahal (see lot 8) is one of India's great Islamic monuments, while the sketch of the Buddha (see lot 7) is both a record of a Buddhist statue and a memento from the site of the historical Buddha's first sermon.