.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The painting is listed in Paintings and Studies by Kawanabe Kyosai by Josiah Conder in the section on kakemono, as being part of a set of three similarly sized and mounted paintings. The central painting is of Kannon (pl. XVIII), and is accompanied by this painting of a cockerel and one of wild geese in reeds.
Unlike the method of the Kano school, in which Kyosai studied, which focused on copying past masters and faithfully following set painting guides, Kyosai’s birds started as ‘sketches from life’. This painting style was inspired by his first teacher, the famous ukiyo-e artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797 – 1861).1 Kyosai himself explained to the Australian-born painter Mortimer Menpes that he would ‘spend a whole day in the garden watching a bird and its particular attitude’, and then would recreate its image from memory.2 The ‘rough style of ink painting’ used in this depiction of a cockerel would have been used by Kyosai to quickly capture his impression of the bird.3
1. Clark, Timothy. Demon of Painting, The Art of Kawanabe Kyosai, (London, 1993), p. 19
2. Comic Genius: Kawanabe Kyosai. Exhibition Catalogue, (Tokyo, 1996) p. 113
3. Conder, Josiah, Paintings and Studies by Kawanabe Kyosai: An Illustrated and Descriptive Catalogue of a Collection of Paintings, Studies and Sketches, by the Above Artist, with Explanatory Notes on the Principles, Materials and Technique, of Japanese Painting, (Tokyo, 1993) p. 108
Unlike the method of the Kano school, in which Kyosai studied, which focused on copying past masters and faithfully following set painting guides, Kyosai’s birds started as ‘sketches from life’. This painting style was inspired by his first teacher, the famous ukiyo-e artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797 – 1861).1 Kyosai himself explained to the Australian-born painter Mortimer Menpes that he would ‘spend a whole day in the garden watching a bird and its particular attitude’, and then would recreate its image from memory.2 The ‘rough style of ink painting’ used in this depiction of a cockerel would have been used by Kyosai to quickly capture his impression of the bird.3
1. Clark, Timothy. Demon of Painting, The Art of Kawanabe Kyosai, (London, 1993), p. 19
2. Comic Genius: Kawanabe Kyosai. Exhibition Catalogue, (Tokyo, 1996) p. 113
3. Conder, Josiah, Paintings and Studies by Kawanabe Kyosai: An Illustrated and Descriptive Catalogue of a Collection of Paintings, Studies and Sketches, by the Above Artist, with Explanatory Notes on the Principles, Materials and Technique, of Japanese Painting, (Tokyo, 1993) p. 108