A fabulous image of a scholar at rest along the banks of the stream under a cascade of delicate calligraphy by Irie Shikai. Ink and faint color on silk in a blue silk border with large exotic turned-wood rollers enclosed in a custom made kiri-wood box. It is 55 x 203 cm (22 x 80 inches) and is in overall excellent condition.
Irie Shikai was born in Fukuoka prefecture in 1862, the son of an upper level samurai retainer. He studied Nanga and Chinese style painting under Yoshitsugu Haizan and Daiju Ekizan among others. Eschewing the contemporary trend to exhibit and paint for the major National Juried exhibitions, he remained outside the mainstream. For more on this artist see Literati Modern, Bunjinga from late Edo to 20th century Japan, Honolulu, 2008.
