Lot Essay
In the early 19th century Hokusai, in his 40's, created a group of paintings on paper in a notably free style. with the sure-handed directness and brevity of maturity these paintings retain the best qualities of drawing, yet are as fully informative as his more elaborate paintings on silk. Richard Lane in Hokusai Life and Work (New York: E.P. Dutton, 1989) p. 111-12, states "To me, he is at his best in the more impromptu-style work in light colours on paper, rather than in the more formal paintings in heavy colours on silk which, though impressive enough (and most expensive, both in the artist's time and thereafter), are sometimes difficult to love."
Stylistically this painting dates to circa 1800 and belongs to a group of accepted, yet unsigned Hokusai paintings to which both signature and seal were later additions. Hokusai used the name Manji much later in his career, neither did he use the Chinese character hitsu (brush) after his signature, preferring the character ga (picture). Both signature and seal in this image are spurious--later additions to an unsigned work.
An excellent comparison piece for this painting is a scroll in the Ota Museum--similar in style, medium, and format--that also has an inscription by Magao; it dates from the same period and is similar in size (see Forrer, Hokusai, pl. 79). The quick brushwork of the robes in both examples is one of the reasons that works of this group have in the past been considered drawings, or minor works, and were not though to have been on the same level as Hokusai bijin-ga of a few years later. this perception has undergone revision in recent years however, and these paintings are now fully recognized. signed and sealed Hokusai paintings from the early 1800s (Street-walker in moonlight under willow in the Hosomi Collection and Courtesan with flying cuckoo [see Lane, Hokusai, pls. 108, 111]) are similar to the scroll offered here in the robe patterns, the aforementioned attenuated brush strokes, and the distinctive light touch in the drawing of the facial features.
Stylistically this painting dates to circa 1800 and belongs to a group of accepted, yet unsigned Hokusai paintings to which both signature and seal were later additions. Hokusai used the name Manji much later in his career, neither did he use the Chinese character hitsu (brush) after his signature, preferring the character ga (picture). Both signature and seal in this image are spurious--later additions to an unsigned work.
An excellent comparison piece for this painting is a scroll in the Ota Museum--similar in style, medium, and format--that also has an inscription by Magao; it dates from the same period and is similar in size (see Forrer, Hokusai, pl. 79). The quick brushwork of the robes in both examples is one of the reasons that works of this group have in the past been considered drawings, or minor works, and were not though to have been on the same level as Hokusai bijin-ga of a few years later. this perception has undergone revision in recent years however, and these paintings are now fully recognized. signed and sealed Hokusai paintings from the early 1800s (Street-walker in moonlight under willow in the Hosomi Collection and Courtesan with flying cuckoo [see Lane, Hokusai, pls. 108, 111]) are similar to the scroll offered here in the robe patterns, the aforementioned attenuated brush strokes, and the distinctive light touch in the drawing of the facial features.