Crane, mid-1940s

Sakaguchi Issō
Crane, mid-1940s
Hanging scroll; ink, mineral colors, shell powder and gold wash on silk
Overall size 93¼ x 34½ in. (236.5 x 88 cm)
Image size 54¼ x 28 in. (137.5 x 71 cm)
T-5081

Comes with the original double wooden tomobako storage boxes, the outer one in tamenuri lacquer and the inner one inscribed and signed by the artist.

Born in Osaka, Sakaguchi Issō (birth name: Masajirō) was encouraged to take up painting by friends including Takeuchi Mimei and mastered the basic skills under Fujita Shiu. In 1918 he moved to Tokyo and attended the Taiheiyōgakai Kenkyūjo (Pacific Painting Institute), later studying with Kawabata Ryūshi (1885–1966). He first exhibited at the Inten (Japan Art Institute) in 1927 but resigned from the Institute in 1928 along with Kawabata and helped to set up the Seiryūsha, a group of artists whose goal was the promotion of Japanese-style painting. During the 1930s he helped decorate some of the rooms at the Meguro Gajoen entertainment complex in Tokyo. He showed regularly with the Seiryūsha for many years until he fell out with Kawabata in 1950. After participating in the Nitten official national salon from 1950 to 1952, in 1959 he set up his own association the Seienkai and showed at its exhibitions every year until its dissolution in 1982. He became a member of the Nihongain in 1975.