Konoshima Ōkoku
Fall Colors Over the Gorge, 1920s-30s
Hanging scroll; ink and mineral colors on silk
Overall size 83 x 22 in. (211 x 56 cm)
Image size 50¼ x 16½ in. (128 x 42 cm)
Image size 50¼ x 16½ in. (128 x 42 cm)
T-5180
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Signed and sealed at lower left Ōkoku Comes with a double wood tomobako storage box, the inner box inscribed outside Keijō shūshoku (Fall Colors Over the Gorge); signed inside Ōkoku...
Signed and sealed at lower left Ōkoku
Comes with a double wood tomobako storage box, the inner box inscribed outside Keijō shūshoku (Fall Colors Over the Gorge); signed inside Ōkoku saku and sealed Ōkoku; contained within a translucent red-lacquered outer box with an exhibition label inscribed Bangō ni hissha Ōkoku sensei Zudai Momiji sansui sango Bikō (Number Two; Artist Master Ōkoku; Subject Maple Leaf Landscape 35; Remarks)
In this masterly synthesis of elements of traditional East Asian pictorial space, nineteenth-century Romantic landscape painting, and Japanese observational naturalism, Konoshima Ōkoku creates a compelling vision of an autumnal mountain wilderness. Working with a rich vocabulary of dry, energetic brushwork, he exploits the natural tone of the silk ground, building form through layered washes of mineral red and ink gray that evoke the crisp atmosphere and rugged textures of the highlands. The composition is carefully orchestrated to draw the viewer's eye deep into the ravine and upward along the towering slopes. Rather than including the diminutive cottages or solitary travelers that traditionally serve as markers of human scale in the Chinese and Japanese landscape tradition, Ōkoku places a flock of tiny birds in the depths of the valley. Their almost imperceptible presence heightens the monumentality of the surrounding peaks, emphasizing the grandeur of the untamed natural world.
One of the leading Nihonga painters of the early twentieth century, Konoshima Ōkoku (birth name: Bunjirō) was born into a distinguished Kyoto family with deep artistic connections. His great-grandfather, Konoshima Mototsune, trained under a painter of the Kano school and participated in the late eighteenth-century refurbishment of the Kyoto Imperial Palace while his grandfather, Shūkichi, founded a business supplying furnishings to the Imperial Household and maintained close friendships with prominent painters and ceramic artists.
After leaving Kyoto Municipal Commercial School without graduating, Ōkoku entered the studio of the celebrated painter Imao Keinen (1845–1924) at the age of nineteen. He also studied Chinese poetry under Yamamoto Keigu, developing a lifelong passion for classical Chinese literature. An exceptionally talented student, he received commendations at the Third and Fourth Seinen Kaiga Kyōshinkai (Young Artists' Association) shows in the mid-1890s and soon became active in major exhibitions, including those of the Kyoto Art Association and the Shinko Bijutsuten (Exhibition of Ancient and Modern Art). His paintings were purchased on two occasions by the Imperial Household.
Ōkoku achieved national prominence at the inaugural Bunten (Ministry of Education Fine Arts Exhibition) in 1907, where his painting Shigure (Late Autumn Rain) won second prize. He continued to receive awards through the Sixth Bunten Exhibition and exhibited regularly at the Bunten and its successor, the Teiten, for nearly three decades. In 1913 he served as a juror for the Seventh Bunten in place of his teacher Keinen. Alongside Kikuchi Keigetsu, he was regarded as one of the first major stars produced by the Bunten system. Building on the traditions of the Maruyama and Shijō schools, he was initially celebrated for his paintings of animals, but later expanded his repertoire to include landscapes, most often as here in tall hanging-scroll format and with a special penchant for autumnal scenes. In addition to his success as an exhibitor, Ōkoku was appointed instructor at the Kyoto Municipal School of Arts and Crafts in 1912 and professor at the Kyoto Municipal Specialist School of Painting in 1915.
A prolific traveler, Ōkoku made extensive sketching journeys throughout Japan. Many of these plein-air studies survive in the Ōkoku Bunko, an archive preserving numerous works meticulously annotated in elegant classical Chinese. His paintings are held today in major Japanese museums and religious institutions. In his later years he increasingly devoted himself to Chinese poetry and calligraphy, earning a reputation as an eccentric and unworldly figure who gradually withdrew from public life. He died tragically in a railroad accident on November 3, 1938.
Interest in Ōkoku's work has remained strong in recent years. Major retrospective exhibitions were held at the Fukuda Museum of Art, the Saga Arashiyama Museum of Arts and Culture, and the Sen-Oku Hakukokan Museum (Tokyo) between 2021 and 2023.
Comes with a double wood tomobako storage box, the inner box inscribed outside Keijō shūshoku (Fall Colors Over the Gorge); signed inside Ōkoku saku and sealed Ōkoku; contained within a translucent red-lacquered outer box with an exhibition label inscribed Bangō ni hissha Ōkoku sensei Zudai Momiji sansui sango Bikō (Number Two; Artist Master Ōkoku; Subject Maple Leaf Landscape 35; Remarks)
In this masterly synthesis of elements of traditional East Asian pictorial space, nineteenth-century Romantic landscape painting, and Japanese observational naturalism, Konoshima Ōkoku creates a compelling vision of an autumnal mountain wilderness. Working with a rich vocabulary of dry, energetic brushwork, he exploits the natural tone of the silk ground, building form through layered washes of mineral red and ink gray that evoke the crisp atmosphere and rugged textures of the highlands. The composition is carefully orchestrated to draw the viewer's eye deep into the ravine and upward along the towering slopes. Rather than including the diminutive cottages or solitary travelers that traditionally serve as markers of human scale in the Chinese and Japanese landscape tradition, Ōkoku places a flock of tiny birds in the depths of the valley. Their almost imperceptible presence heightens the monumentality of the surrounding peaks, emphasizing the grandeur of the untamed natural world.
One of the leading Nihonga painters of the early twentieth century, Konoshima Ōkoku (birth name: Bunjirō) was born into a distinguished Kyoto family with deep artistic connections. His great-grandfather, Konoshima Mototsune, trained under a painter of the Kano school and participated in the late eighteenth-century refurbishment of the Kyoto Imperial Palace while his grandfather, Shūkichi, founded a business supplying furnishings to the Imperial Household and maintained close friendships with prominent painters and ceramic artists.
After leaving Kyoto Municipal Commercial School without graduating, Ōkoku entered the studio of the celebrated painter Imao Keinen (1845–1924) at the age of nineteen. He also studied Chinese poetry under Yamamoto Keigu, developing a lifelong passion for classical Chinese literature. An exceptionally talented student, he received commendations at the Third and Fourth Seinen Kaiga Kyōshinkai (Young Artists' Association) shows in the mid-1890s and soon became active in major exhibitions, including those of the Kyoto Art Association and the Shinko Bijutsuten (Exhibition of Ancient and Modern Art). His paintings were purchased on two occasions by the Imperial Household.
Ōkoku achieved national prominence at the inaugural Bunten (Ministry of Education Fine Arts Exhibition) in 1907, where his painting Shigure (Late Autumn Rain) won second prize. He continued to receive awards through the Sixth Bunten Exhibition and exhibited regularly at the Bunten and its successor, the Teiten, for nearly three decades. In 1913 he served as a juror for the Seventh Bunten in place of his teacher Keinen. Alongside Kikuchi Keigetsu, he was regarded as one of the first major stars produced by the Bunten system. Building on the traditions of the Maruyama and Shijō schools, he was initially celebrated for his paintings of animals, but later expanded his repertoire to include landscapes, most often as here in tall hanging-scroll format and with a special penchant for autumnal scenes. In addition to his success as an exhibitor, Ōkoku was appointed instructor at the Kyoto Municipal School of Arts and Crafts in 1912 and professor at the Kyoto Municipal Specialist School of Painting in 1915.
A prolific traveler, Ōkoku made extensive sketching journeys throughout Japan. Many of these plein-air studies survive in the Ōkoku Bunko, an archive preserving numerous works meticulously annotated in elegant classical Chinese. His paintings are held today in major Japanese museums and religious institutions. In his later years he increasingly devoted himself to Chinese poetry and calligraphy, earning a reputation as an eccentric and unworldly figure who gradually withdrew from public life. He died tragically in a railroad accident on November 3, 1938.
Interest in Ōkoku's work has remained strong in recent years. Major retrospective exhibitions were held at the Fukuda Museum of Art, the Saga Arashiyama Museum of Arts and Culture, and the Sen-Oku Hakukokan Museum (Tokyo) between 2021 and 2023.