An ink painting of bamboo by Tomioka Tessai enclosed in a wooden box endorsed by Sakamoto Kojo titled Ganchiku.It is 67.5 x 199 cm (26-1/2 x 78 inches) and has been long ago mounted in excellent brocade.There are some holes visible in the original paper which were repaired when the painting was re-backed.Included in the sale is the original catalog page from when the scroll was sold as well as the Kanteisho (#196) from Kiyoshikojin Seicho Temple, home of the Tomioka Tessai Museum in Hyogo prefecture. It comes in a lacquered double wood box (niju-bako).
Tomioka Tessai (1837-1924) was a scholar artist trained from age seven in the traditional Confucian manner. After the death of his father he was apprenticed to a Shinto shrine, and later was forced to escape the capitol to Kyushu to avoid arrest for anti-governmental actions he had taken on part of the Imperial cause. Here he began serious study of Literati painting and furthered his scholarly research. Upon returning to Kyoto he was befriended by and moved to work under Otagaki Rengetsu, from whom he was heavily influenced. He helped to establish the Nihon Nanga-In and held a number of important positions, culminating in being appointed the official painter of the Emperor and a member of the Imperial Art Academy; the highest honor in Japanese Art circles. He is represented in innumerable important collections. Information on this important person is readily available, for more see Scholar Painters of Japan by Cahill (1972), Roberts Dictionary, or a quick internet search will find plenty of reading. He is held in the Tokyo National Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Kyoto, etc…
