urtledoves in a Peach Tree | Nakamura Daizaburo

Nakamura Daizaburo 中村大三郎

Turtledoves in a Peach Tree

Taisho period, circa 1920

Framed painting. Mineral pigments, ink and gofun on silk

Signed: Daizaburo 大三郎

Sealed: Nakamura no in 中村之印

Dimensions (framed):

W. 95.5 cm x H. 89 cm x D. 2.5 cm (37.5” x 35” x 1”)

Price: USD 18000

This is an example of modern Japanese painting (nihonga) dating to the heart of the Taisho period, circa 1920. The silk painting is mounted on a panel, the frame of roiro mirror-polished, black lacquer. Conservation, mounting and framing was carried out in Kyoto utilizing traditional techniques and exceptional craftsmen.

A pair of turtledoves in a fruiting peach tree; the turtledoves symbolic of a strong bond and the peaches of immortality. In this composition, Kyoto-based artist Nakamura Daizaburo takes the naturalism of the Maruyama-Shijo school of painting and applies to it his explorations of light and atmosphere that borrow from Western Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. This blend of reality and decorativeness creates an unnatural, dreamlike impression which is notable in many works of the Taisho period (1912-1926). Kyoto Nihonga of the period was intimately associated with decorative elegance and consummate brush technique. Nakamura Daizaburo was a well-known Nihonga painter who specialized in paintings of beautiful ladies. He was noted for his exquisite color harmonies, compositional refinement and soft, feathery brushwork; traits which are clearly recognizable in this rare and early bird and flower work by the artist.

Nakamura Daizaburo (1898-1947). A nihonga painter who specialized in bijinga and served as an artistic director for Nikkatsu film studios. The son of a Kyoto-based kimono dyer, he studied at the Kyoto Municipal School of Fine Arts and Crafts from 1912 to 1916, and then at the Kyoto Municipal School of Painting, where he joined the faculty in 1925. First invited to exhibit his work at the 12th Bunten in 1918, Nakamura Daizaburo, exhibited at the national Teiten, Shin-Bunten, and the Hoshukuten exhibitions frequently in the years leading up to the War (including 1919, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1925, 1926, 1928, 1930, 1933, 1934, 1936, 1939, 1940, and 1943). Works by the artist are held by the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, the National Museum of Modern Art Tokyo, the Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, Honolulu Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum.