OGATA GEKKO: THE RAT, THE BLACK STONE OF MUTSU PROVINCE, AND THE CAT OF JOKYO-JI TEMPLE

拍品描述

OGATA GEKKO: THE RAT, THE BLACK STONE OF MUTSU PROVINCE, AND THE CAT OF JOKYO-JI TEMPLE By Ogata Gekko (1859-1920), signed Gekko zuihitsu and seal Ichigaku Ichiei Japan, dated 15 July 1896 Color woodblock print on paper. Vertical oban. Signed Gekko and sealed Ichigaku Ichiei; publisher Matsuki Heikichi. Title Nezumi, Rikushu kuroishi, Jokyo-ji no neko (The Rat, the Black Stone of Mutsu Province, and the Cat of Jokyo-ji Temple), from the series Gekko zuihitsu (Gekko's Miscellany). Depicting a cat lying on its back, struggling to fend off a large rat lunging at it in a heated combat. The fur of both animals is meticulously rendered, while their combative demeanor is conveyed with striking realism. SIZE of the sheet 36.5 x 24.9 cm Ogata Gekko (1859-1920) was a Japanese artist best known as a painter and a designer of ukiyo-e woodblock prints. He was self-taught in art, won numerous national and international prizes, and was one of the earliest Japanese artists to win an international audience. Gekko was self-taught in art, and began decorating porcelain and rickshaws, and designing flyers for the pleasure quarters. His early style shows the influence of the painter Kikuchi Yosai. About 1881 he took the surname Ogata at the insistence of a descendant of the painter Ogata Korin. He soon was designing prints and illustrating books and newspapers. In 1885 Gekko exhibited in the Painting Appreciation Society, and he became acquainted with the art scholars Ernest Fenellosa and Okakura Kakuzo. This scene comes from a traditional Japanese folktale about a cat devoted to the daughter of an old man. Fearing that the cat might use magic on the girl, the father resolved to kill it. The cat, overhearing, revealed that it was defending the girl from a giant rat in love with her. That night, the cat fought the enormous rat. The household intervened and killed the rat, but the feline succumbed to wounds and received an honorable burial in the local temple. This composition depicts the climax of the struggle, with the rat lunging at the cat as it sprawls defensively. Museum comparison: A closely related print is in the Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Asian Art, accession number S2003.8.1652.

图片