Watanabe SHIKÔ
(Japan 1683–1755)
- Title
- Full moon over pine covered mountain
- Place of origin
-
Japan
- Period
- Edo (Tokugawa) period 1615 - 1868 → Japan
- Year
- 18th century
- Media category
- Painting
- Materials used
- single two-fold screen; ink, gold and silver on paper
- Dimensions
-
168.0 x 184.0cm image; 172.5 x 188.4cm screen
- Signature & date
- Signed l.l., in Japanese, ink "[artist's seal]". Not dated. [left screen] Signed l.r., in Japanese, ink "[artist's seal]". Not dated. [right screen]
- Credit
- Purchased with funds provided by Kenneth Myer 1990
- Accession number
- 105.1990
- Location
- Lower Asian gallery
- Further information
Nothing could be more telling of the unique Japanese aesthetic than the mysterious poetry of this screen, as abbreviated in its delivery as it is fulfilling in its effect. Watanabe Shikô belonged to the very Japanese Rinpa school of painting, named after Ogata Kôrin (1658-1716) with whom Shikô studied. The school's origins go back to the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, when the artists Tawaraya Sôtatsu and Hon'ami Kôetsu sought to re-establish the brilliant style and unique sensitivity of the aristocratic art of Japan's 'golden age', the Heian period (794-1184). Hallmarks of the Rinpa school are a rich but refined decorative effect, achieved through an impeccable compositional balance; a fondness for metallic washes and inlays; and an emphasis on nature. Here the full autumn moon peers out from the mountain-side, and pine trees are defined by a few sparse but expressive black ink strokes.
Art Gallery Handbook, 1999. pg. 278.
- Bibliography (5)
-
Ewen McDonald (Australia) (Editor), The Art Gallery of New South Wales collections, Sydney, 1994, 219 (colour illus.).
Bruce James (Australia) (Author), Edmund Capon (England; Australia, b.1940) (Director), Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook, Domain, 1999, 278 (colour illus.).
Moon road to dawn: an encounter of Chinese and Japanese traditional music 1999, 1999, front cover (colour illus.). this is the cover of an audio-CD of traditional Chinese and Japanese music
'Asian Collections in the Art Gallery of New South Wales' by Edmund Capon, pg. 76-79., Orientations Sep 2000, Sep 2000, 77 (colour illus.). fig.3
The Asian Collections Art Gallery of New South Wales 2003, 2003, 11 (colour illus.).
- Exhibition history (2)
-
Great gifts, great patrons, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 17 Aug 1994–19 Oct 1994.
The art of Japanese screen painting, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 06 Nov 2004–06 Feb 2005.
