Japanese Art and Deer
Lee Jay Walker
Modern Tokyo Times
Maekawa Senpan (1888–1960) initially studied oil painting under the renowned Asai Chū and other respected instructors at the Kansai Art Academy, but he is best remembered for his contributions to the sōsaku hanga (creative prints) movement.
The British Museum says, “Maekawa was born in Kyoto, the younger brother of a minor print-artist, Asaga Manjiro (1885-1965). He studied at the Kansai Bijutsuin from 1905, at first with Asai Chu (1856-1907), and moved to Tokyo in 1911 where he began his long career as a cartoonist…”
Sawako Utsumi (art above) pays homage to the Edo-period artist Nakamura Hochu, drawing inspiration from his depiction of deer. However, she dramatically alters the colorization of the animals and infuses the work with a Buddhist dimension rooted in her interpretation.
While the Buddhist angle is not visually explicit, it underpins the conceptual framework of the piece. Utsumi views the four deer as symbolic of the ‘four winds’ in Buddhism—forces representing opposing dualities of positive and negative. In her interpretation, these winds inevitably shape the human experience as one reaches a certain stage in life.
Ohara Koson (1877–1945) is widely celebrated for his work in kachō-ga, a genre of art centered on birds and flowers. In addition to these themes, he also created striking depictions of animals and a number of elegant landscapes.
The Toledo Museum says, “Ohara Koson was a master of the kacho-ga print—images of the natural world, but particularly of birds and flowers… Koson’s aim was to balance a naturalistic portrayal of his subjects with a decorative sensibility—and a desire to convey the spirit of the birds he depicted.”
https://fineartamerica.com/featured/four-winds-of-buddhism-and-deer-sawako-utsumi.html Four Winds of Buddhism and Deer
https://fineartamerica.com/featured/buddhist-monk-in-deep-winter-sawako-utsumi.html Buddhist Monk in Deep Winter
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