Lot 47B
Anonymous (Japanese, XIX century). Evening Reflections. Painting on silk, ca. 1970s to 1990s. Signed at lower right in black kanji with red, indecipherable artist seal. A tranquil expanse of water ripples beneath a twilight sky, rendered in rhythmic waves of gold, violet, and ink-black. This refined silk painting captures the ephemeral beauty of dusk in a composition both meditative and modern, fusing traditional Japanese technique with a distinctly 20th-century sense of design. The landscape is deceptively simple: distant mountains stretch low across the horizon, their edges softened by mist and distance, while the sea below them trembles with light. Stylized waves in undulating patterns evoke the visual language of woodblock printing and Nihonga painting, yet their precision and regularity speak to a contemporary graphic sensibility. Size of painting: 19.5" W x 17" H (49.5 cm x 43.2 cm); of frame: 29.5" W x 27" H (74.9 cm x 68.6 cm)
Each ribbon of water carries a slight tonal shift - from olive to plum, from lavender to bronze - creating an illusion of motion, like wind tracing patterns across a still lake. Painted on silk, a medium historically prized in East Asian art, the work is finely mounted in a brocade mat and broad wooden frame. At the lower right, a vertical kanji signature and red artist seal reinforce the painting's Japanese origin. Though the artist remains unidentified, the calligraphic elegance of the inscription and the sophisticated control of tone and balance suggest a trained hand working within the traditions of Nihonga or modern Japanese landscape art.
This piece likely dates to the late Showa or early Heisei period (ca. 1970s to 1990s), a time when many Japanese artists were revisiting traditional materials with renewed aesthetic clarity. The result is a work that feels at once ancient and immediate - a serene study of water and reflection that invites contemplation.
Provenance: private New York, New York, USA collection
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#189822
- Condition: Signed at lower right in black kanji with red, indecipherable artist seal. Mounted behind glass in custom matte and frame; has not been examined outside of glass. Appears to be a few light marks and creases or pulls to silk, but, otherwise, imagery is very clear with nice colors and in overall very good condition. Suspension wire on verso for display.
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