Dreamy color washes delineate a house among the trees flying a carp-shaped wind sock by Hirai Baisen enclosed in the original signed red lacquered double wood box titled Nara no Gogatsu (May in Nara). A tiled pink wall climbs the trail, a dilapidated companion on your journey to the distant home. Pigment on silk in a superb patterned silk border with solid ivory rollers, it is in excellent condition. The rollers will be changed if exporting.
Hirai Baisen graduated the Kyoto Municipal School of Fine Arts and was a regular exhibitor with the Bunten from 1907-1931. Having worked in any number of styles, he was a true Jiyu-gakka who excelled in the early years of his career. However he did slowly withdraw from the competitive world of Japanese art beginning in the war years. His works are held by the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and a plethora of important public and private collections.
