A contemplation stone in dramatic ink work accompanied by a jagged poem by Kikuchi Keigetsu dated 1922 enclosed in a period wooden box. Ink on paper in a silk mounting featuring solid ivory rollers. It is 43 x 217 cm ’17 x 85-1/2 inches) and in overall fine condition, with toning to the paper consistent with age and exposure.
Kikuchi Keigetsu (1879-1955) was born in Nagano, and studied Nanga under Kodama Katei before apprenticing to Kikuchi Hobun in Kyoto. He spent a year in Europe, and exhibited nationally with the Bunten. He was later appointed a member of the Imperial Art Academy, one of the highest honors for an artist in Japan. According to Roberts, he specialized in Portraits... a combination of Western and Japanese elements marked by a certain intentional naiveté. His work is held in the Kyoto Municipal Art Museum and the National Museum of Modern Art Kyoto among others.
