Japanese Antique Painting, Goddess of Geisha

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Japanese Antique Painting, Goddess of Geisha

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Sold Date: 01/10/2007
Channel: Retail
Source: GoAntiques
Category: Ethnic, Folk & Native American Art

This painting's subject is Benten, the Japanese goddess of the arts, music, love, eloquence and wisdom, riding a dragon through the clouds. She is the patroness of geisha, dancers, and musicians. Compare this to another sumi-e painting by this same artist, Gekko, that was similar in style and condition that sold at Christie's March 29, 2005 auction for $4,200 plus commission. That painting was actually smaller than this one. This is a Rare and Special Find, a series of 7 Monumental (nearly 8 feet tall, 91" x 40", 231 x 101 cm) 19th Century Japanese Paintings by Ogata Gekko, Japan's first artist ever to receive international critical acclaim. Please visit the non-profit educational site, for more information on Gekko. All but a few of Gekko's paintings are in either museums or private collections, and are rarely offered for sale. From a collection in Japan comes this series of Seven Paintings of Legendary Deities and Immortals by one of Japan's greatest artists. These gorgeous painting are unusually large, befitting their grand subjects. Suibokuga, or sumi-e, are monochrome paintings that are painted directly from conception to the canvas, without any preliminary sketching. They give a rather quiet impression compared with Western oil painting and were considered more demanding than painting with color, requiring more discipline, emphasizing line, shading, and the use of space and abstraction. It is often said that this centuries-old art of suibokuga truly captures the real Ã,Â"beauty of JapanÃ,Â". Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cezanne, Matisse, Monet, and Whistler are among the many Western artists who have said that they were fascinated with and influenced by Japanese sumi-e paintings.