A weasel leaps through this vivid autumnal scene accented with gold in radical sweeping strokes by Tamamura Hokuto enclosed in a period wooden box. Pigment on silk in a patterned satin border with solid bone rollers. It is 48.5 x 207 cm and in fine condition.
Tamamura Hokuto (Zennosuke, 1893-1951) was born in Kyoto to a family dealing in wooden shoes. He graduated the Kyoto Municipal School of Arts and Crafts in 1911, and continued under Kikuchi Hobun and the Kyoto Municiapal Fine Arts College, graduating in 1915. Thereupon he, along with Okamoto Shinso, Kainosho Tadaoto and Irie Hako, founded Mitsuritsu-Kai for the study and appreciation/exhibition of Nihonga. He chose the Saiko Inten for National Exhibitions, and in 1916 relocated to Tokyo to further his studies, garnering an award at the 5th Saiko Inten in 1918. Two years later, dissatisfied with the politics of the system, he broke with that exhibition to immerse himself in the world of avant garde artists, promoting radical views on Nihonga and trying his hand at many different mediums including printmaking and promoting the sosaku Hanga movement. He paints in an often-humorous style, moments in everyday life or portraying everyday sentiments, and I believe this work exemplifies, by an early start, such works. For more see Tamamura Hokuto, Revolutionary of the Japanese Style of Painting (Museum of Modern Art Kyoto, 2008).
