Painting on silk in
mineral pigments, gofun or powdered clam shell, and sumi ink mounted as
a hanging scroll, depicting a young girl in Western dress in a summer
dahlia garden. Signed on the lower right corner by the artist: Taishō
Jū-san-nen, Shichi-gatsu Meisen Saku or Painted in July of Taishō (era)
13th Year, and signed: Meisen, and sealed: Meisen. Taishō 13 or 1924.
Thus far, we have been unable to identify more about the painter than
the name, Meisen. It may be that he or she worked in Kyoto and studied
at the municipal painting schools, perhaps participating in the
Japanese style painting exhibitions of the Kokuga-Sasaku-Kyōkai (first
established in 1918 and ending in 1928).
The decade from 1920 to 1930 was perhaps the highpoint of naturalism in
Japanese painting. Painters incorporated incredibly accurate depictions
of the natural world into their work, often in compositions more
beautiful and intense than reality. Western clothing became chic among
the upper classes and from the late teens through the 1930s became a
part of elegant figure painting.
Here the painter, Meisen, focuses on a young girl enfolded by the
towering blossoms of crimson and white dahlias, as she reaches
mesmerized across yellow blooms towards a great, emerald dragonfly. In
1924, both the brilliant blossoms and the child’s Western
clothing seemed exotic and chic. Her checked and beribboned summer hat
echoes the blossoms above, as does the delicately lacy smock covering
her dress. Carefully drawn and shaded, the riot of flowers and foliage
frame in the child with an almost tropical or jungle-like luxuriance.
The child seems as much a part of the garden as the dragonfly, at once
innocent and as natural. For the painter as for us, time pauses in a
wash of warm, summer light.
Dahlias bulbs were first imported into Japan in the early Meiji era. By
Taishō the flowers were passionately cultivated by ardent gardeners,
who developed new species and held competitions all over Japan
(sponsored by the Nihon Dahlia Kai (Japan Dahlia Association).
81” high x 27 7/8” wide, inclusive of mounting.
49 ½” high x 22” wide, painting dimension.
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