YANAGIDA RYŪSETSU (1833-1882) [Takuryōsai]

Subject: Two fierce dragons play in swirling black clouds

Signed: Shoō hitsui Takuryōsai hitsu

Sealed: Taku; Ryūsetsu no in

Date: ca. 1860

Media: Ink and very slight color on paper

Format: Hanging scroll

Size: Exclusive of mount: 25 1/4 x 50 1/4 in.
Inclusive of mount: 31 3/4 x 83 1/4 in.

According to East Asian tradition, the Dragon, sovereign symbol of the Far East, embodies mystery, ferocity and power and is nearly omnipresent in Japanese art as the senior sign of the twelve zodiac animals. It is also the embodiment of the yin principles (water, wind, and darkness). The Dragon and Tiger are traditionally said to represent two of the cardinal directions, namely east and west respectively. In this painting, the swirling clouds, manifest wind, and darkness of the dragon’s celestial domain underscore the active serpentine bodies of the two creatures. The composition is inspired by and based on the work of Chen Rong 陳容, a Southern Song painter celebrated for his paintings of the dragon.

For a very similar composition, please see: https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/449583

Yanagida Ryūsetsu or Takuryōsai as he is better known, was a student of Kano Shosen-in Tadanobu (1823-79), who was an artist active in Edo as the 10th head of the Kobikicho Kano school and teacher of many celebrated painters including Kano Hōgai and Hashimoto Gahō. Takuryōsai was an artist attached to the Satsuma clan until the Meiji Restoration.