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Lot Essay
Christie's is proud to presents the new works by Mitsuru Watanabe, moving away from his previous body of works that often incorporates the traditional Japanese aesthetic as background, here in Stolen Rousseau (Lot 507), Flower Hunting in Rousseau's Forest (Lot 508) and Naoko Playing in Bosch's Last Judgement (Lot 506), Watanabe appropriates theme from Western artists such as Rousseau's and Bosch's iconic paintings. His heroine is also his daughter, often portrayed in school uniform, she is forever the main subject matter that reappears throughout his works. The little girl appears to be travelling and exploring different realm of reality and fantasy world, Watanabe once said, "In the world of imagination, everything is accessible and nothing is forbidden. I observe other painters' images from a landscape painter's point of view and play with those images." In Stolen Rousseau Watanabe's masterful appropriation of Rousseau's Negro Attacked by a Jaguar, replaced the negro subject with his heroine, whom clutch a doll-like version of Rousseau between her arms, as if she is playing hide and seek within the vast jungle surrounding her. In Flower Hunting in Rousseau's Forest (Fig. 1) Wantanabe appropriates Rousseau's The Dream, and once again replacing the original subject matter with portrait of his daughter, depicting the little girl as if she is the Queen of the jungle. In this painting the vivid contrast of colours and light demonstrate further his sensibility in controlling the nuance of light.
In Naoko Playing in Bosch's Last Judgement the fairy creatures and its theme recalls Bosch's The Garden of Earthly Delights (Fig. 2), the little girl dominates the center of the canvas with both hands grasping the mythical creatures as if she is the hunter and protector of this mythical world. Each of these whimsical paintings is a documentation of the adventure that the little girl venture through; a juxtaposition of the innocence of a girl with the historical imagery as the backdrop, Watanabe created this imaginary filed trip for his daughter, but in essence also documenting the social culture history through the eyes of a young girl. Watanabe's excellent painterly technique and unique vision in his subject matter has expand the horizon of contemporary Japanese art, where the possibility of the old and the new, the Eastern and the Western, the reality and fantasy can be coexisting together to create something complete unique yet familiar.
In Naoko Playing in Bosch's Last Judgement the fairy creatures and its theme recalls Bosch's The Garden of Earthly Delights (Fig. 2), the little girl dominates the center of the canvas with both hands grasping the mythical creatures as if she is the hunter and protector of this mythical world. Each of these whimsical paintings is a documentation of the adventure that the little girl venture through; a juxtaposition of the innocence of a girl with the historical imagery as the backdrop, Watanabe created this imaginary filed trip for his daughter, but in essence also documenting the social culture history through the eyes of a young girl. Watanabe's excellent painterly technique and unique vision in his subject matter has expand the horizon of contemporary Japanese art, where the possibility of the old and the new, the Eastern and the Western, the reality and fantasy can be coexisting together to create something complete unique yet familiar.