TAKEUCHI SEIHŌ (1864-1942)

Subject: Mount Fuji

Signed: Seihō sha

Sealed: Seihō

Date: ca. 1895-1900

Dimensions: 16 3/8 x 55 3/8 in. (exclusive of frame);

22 3/8 x 68 7/8 in. (inclusive of frame)

Media: Ink and light color on silk; silk brocade mount and wooden frame

Format: Horizontal painting mounted as framed panel

Price: $ 38,500

A descendant of the Maruyama-Shijō tradition of bird-and-flower painting, Takeuchi Seihō became a key figure of the Kyoto school of modern painting and a highly influential member of the Kyoto Painting Circle in the early 20th century. Unparalleled in both artistic and teaching prowess, he remained a leading figure in the Kyoto arts community for decades. As were the masters of the Maruyama-Shijō school before him, Seihō was intent on capturing the essence of his subjects from first-hand observation, shasei “sketching from life.” Animals in particular captivated him, and became his signature subject matter later in his career.

Being a painter of the Modern period, however, his influences were hardly limited to his Japanese predecessors. During his travels in Europe, he developed a keen appreciation for the works of French painter and printmaker Corot and English Romantic movement painter Turner, and incorporated some of their Western aesthetics into his own work upon his return to Japan in autumn of 1901.

This highly atmospheric and dramatic night scene of Mount Fuji, however, was painted around the time of his European travels. This view of Fuji emerging from the clouds anticipates Seihō’s mature landscape style, which became a significant part of his repertoire later in his career. Painted on silk rather than on paper, the scene is dynamic, alternating between virtuosic, expressive brushwork and delicate pools of color and ink. Seihō uses brush techniques unique to the East Asian ink painting tradition to render the rugged contours of the mountaintop, acting at once as the undeniable statement of the brush’s centrality to the work, yet blending together to create an illusion of a fully realized, cohesive landscape. It resembles in terms of format and composition, a painting of a snow-capped Mt. Fuji from 1892, which is far more precise, highly delineated and realistic (see Takeuchi Seihō ten: kindai nihonga no kyojin [Takeuchi Seihō Exhibition: Giant of Modern Japanese Painting]. Tokyo: Nihon keizai shinbunsha, 2013, plate 2.

The asymmetry of the composition causes the towering Fuji to dominate the impression of the painting differently from paintings of the premodern period. Instead of the placement of the mountain at the center of the composition as may have been more standard in

premodern compositions, here the mountain seems to claim the composition for itself, not at the center of the composition, but still dominating the painting’s field of view. This accordance of visual agency to Fuji gives the painting a fresh, modern sensibility. This successful combination of abstraction and realism to dramatic effect foreshadows how Seihō’s mastery of the Maruyama-Shijō tradition and Western naturalism would eventually evolve into a rich and highly individualistic style in his mature period.

References:

Conant, Ellen P and Steven Owyoung, Nihonga: Transcending the Past. St. Louis, MO: St. Louis Art Museum, 1995. Cat nos. 34, 41, 43, 49, 76, 96-7, 100-102, 112, 142-3, and pp. 322-323 for an excellent biography.

Kindai Nihonga no kyoshō Takeuchi Seihō: ikimonotachi he no manazashi [Takeuchi Seihō, Master of Modern Japanese Painting: Gazing Upon Living Things]. Mishima: Sano Art Museum, 2001.

Kyoto gadan no kyohō: Takeuchi Seihō ten [The Height of the Kyoto Painting Circle: Takeuchi Seihō Exhibition]. Kyoto: Kyoto shinbunsha kikakubu, 1978.

Morioka Michiko and Paul Berry, Modern Masters of Kyoto: The Transformation of

Japanese Painting Traditions – Nihonga from the Griffith and Patricia Way Collection. Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1999. Cat nos. 24, 25 and 26, pp. 130-137.

Seihō – Shōen: honga to shitae [Takeuchi Seihō and Uemura Shōen: Paintings and Preparatory Drawings]. Kyoto: Kyoto shinbunsha, 1994.

Smith, Lawrence. Nihonga Traditional Japanese Painting 1900-40. London: British Museum, 1991. Pls. 3-4, pp. 79-80.

Takeuchi, Itsu and H. Harada, Takeuchi Seihō. Kyoto: Mitsumura suiko shoin, 1981.

Takeuchi Seihō ten: kindai nihonga no kyojin [Takeuchi Seihō Exhibition: Giant of Modern Japanese Painting]. Tokyo: Nihon keizai shinbunsha, 2013; Pl. 2 and p. 219 for related painting of Mount Fuji.