Cranes and Lilies, 1920s

Nagano Sofu
Cranes and Lilies, 1920s
Hanging scroll; ink and mineral colors on silk with gold wash
Overall size 100¾ x 48¼ in. (256 x 123 cm)
Image size 74 x 40 in. (187.5 x 101.5 cm)
T-4800

Signed at lower right Sofu and sealed Taka

Comes with a fitted wood tomobako storage box inscribed outside Kurozuru (Cranes); signed inside Sofu dai (Titled by Sofu) with a seal

In this large and striking composition, Nagano Sofu marshals old and new styles to depict a novel combination of birds and flowers: two black or common cranes (Grus grus) standing between stands of cultivated orange lilies. The slightly overlapping, formalized placement of the birds suggests influence from earlier paintings of tanchozuru (red-crested cranes, Grus japonensis) by masters of the Rinpa movement such as Sakai Hoitsu (1761–1828) or his predecessor Ogata Korin (1658–1716). This impression is intensified by the gold wash and the artist’s use of the tarashikomi (wet-on-wet puddling) technique—also seen in many Rinpa paintings from the Edo period (1615–1868)—in the rich mineral pigments of the lily leaves. Nevertheless, the expressive, detailed brushwork, especially on the flowers, and bold perspective mark this out unmistakably as a work from Japan’s interwar period.

Born in Tokyo, Nagano Sofu started to study painting at age fourteen and was apprenticed at age twenty to Kawai Gyokudo (1873–1957), one of the leading figures in the Nihonga (neo-nativist) painting movement. He enjoyed early success, being selected for the very first Bunten national exhibition (1907) where he won third prize for Mutsu no hana (Six Flowers), a composition depicting celestial maidens scattering snowflakes. He garnered further awards at the Bunten but in 1916 finally transferred his loyalties to the non-governmental Inten, only returning to the official fold once in 1940 when he showed his work at the special exhibition to mark the 2,600th anniversary of Japan’s imperial family.

Despite his large and varied output, few of Nagano’s works are held in public collections, either inside or outside Japan. In addition to his early historical or religious paintings such as Six Flowers and colorful hanging scrolls of birds and flowers like the present work, he did views of China (where he traveled in 1923 and 1925), sketches of the aftermath of the Great Kanto Earthquake (1923), landscapes, and the dramatically lit Kōshū seigetsu (Autumn Moon in a Rain-Cleansed Sky, Shotoku Taishi Exhibition, 1926).