Byōbu or folding
screen in two panels, painted on silk in mineral pigments and gofun or
clam shell gesso with a winter scene of the moon rising above a snowy
hill with a flock of ducks on the marshy edges of a pond. Signed on the
lower right side by the artist: Rinpū, and sealed (Sasaki Rinpū,
the gō or art name of Sasaki Shōmatsu, 1884 – 1933).
Born in Shibata in Niigata Prefecture, Sasaki Rinpū studied painting
under Terasaki Kōgyō at the Tokyo School of Fine Art. He was accepted
into the government-sponsored exhibitions beginning with the 2nd Teiten
in 1920, and running through the 10th Teiten in 1929. In 1926, he
exhibited at the 1st Shōtoku Taishi Hōsan Bijutsu-ten, also showing at
the 2nd exhibition. He passed away on May 28, 1933.
Sasaki Rinpū’s paintings are in the collection of the Niigata
Kindai Bijutsukan (Niigata Prefectural Museum of Modern Art).
Rinpū paints a late winter afternoon, with the moon rising cold over a
snow-billowed landscape. The sky hangs brown and threatening, pale blue
on the horizon. Below, bare branches and weeds surround a flock of
huddled ducks. In the foreground, the brackish waters of a marsh dully
reflect the darkening sky.
63 ½” high x 67” wide, dimensions when opened flat.
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