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Mountain Landscape, ca 1916-1920

Creator: Nishii Keigaku
Offered by: Thomsen Gallery

Description
Nishii Keigaku 西井敬岳
Mountain Landscape, ca 1916-1920
Pair of six-panel folding screens; ink and mineral colors on silk
Size each screen 66 x 147 in. (167.5 x 373 cm)
T-4626

Nishii Keigaku, a prolific and successful artist, was born in Fukui Prefecture, the son of Nishii Keibi, an official painter to the Matsudaira clan, lords of the local feudal fiefdom. In 1902 Keigaku went to Kyoto to study with Yamamoto Shunkyo (1871–1933), a leading landscape painter: Yamamoto’s career largely overlapped with Nishii’s and he painted many screens that clearly influenced the latter, only nine years his junior. Nishii quickly began to win prizes with several art associations and showed regularly at the national Bunten salon from 1907 to 1918. In 1919 he joined other painters in forming the Nihon Jiyū Gadan (Japan Free Painting Group) and presented his work regularly at the group’s shows; he also traveled and painted extensively in China and Korea.

Starting during the mid 1910s, Nishii’s large-format works tend to depict actual, rather than imaginary locations, typically in the regions of Japan or sometimes in Korea. This majestic pair of landscape screen shares close similarities to another pair of screens with a mountainscape entitled Unzan kōitsu (“Cloudy Mountains, Lofty Eminences” or “Untrammeled Scholar Among Cloud-Filled Mountains”), that Nishii exhibited at the 1916 Bunten national art salon.

More Information

Documentation:	Signed
Period:	1900-1919
Creation Date:	1916-1920
Styles / Movements:	Asian Art
Incollect Reference #:	810817

Dimensions

W.	147 in;	H.	66 in;
W.	373.38 cm;	H.	167.64 cm;

Message from Seller:

Thomsen Gallery, now located at 8 East 67th Street, New York City, NY 10065, specializes in important Japanese paintings, folding screens, hanging scrolls, ceramics, ikebana bamboo baskets, lacquerware, and contemporary works by select artists. Owned and directed by Erik and Cornelia Thomsen, the gallery brings decades of expertise in Japanese art to a global clientele, including private collectors and major museums. For inquiries, contact them at 212-288-2588 or info@thomsengallery.com.