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Painting on silk in mineral pigments, gofun or powdered
clam shell, and sumi ink mounted as a hanging scroll, depicting a
beauty setting aside her umbrella after a rainstorm. Signed by the
artist on the lower left: Daizaburō, and sealed: Daizaburō
(Nakamura Daizaburō, 1898 – 1947). Late Taishō –
early Shōwa era, circa 1920 – 1930.
With a double tomobako or original box, titled on the
exterior of the inner box lid: Ame Haru or The Last Raindrops; and on
the reverse of that lid signed by the artist: Daizaburō Dai or
Titled by Daizaburō, and sealed: Daizaburō.
Nakamura Daizaburō studied painting at the Kyoto
Municipal School of Fine Arts and Crafts from 1912 to 1916. Afterwards
he continued at the Kyōto Municipal School of Painting, where he became
a teacher in 1925. His first acceptance into the government-sponsored
exhibitions came in 1918 with the 12th Bunten. He also exhibited the
next year at the reorganized exhibition with the 1st Teiten. In 1920,
at the 2nd Teiten his painting won the tokusen or gold prize, as did
his entry again in 1922 at the 4th Teiten. He continued to show at the
Teiten almost yearly through 1934. Daizaburō exhibited at the 3rd
Shin-Bunten in 1939, at the Hōshukuten in 1940, and at the 6th
Shin-Bunten in 1943. A student of Nishiyama Suishō, he married his
teacher’s eldest daughter, Tsuyuko. The eldest son of a Kyōto
kimono dyer, Daizaburō was interested in the traditional arts
(including music, being a skilled at the flute and hand-drum). In 1938,
he started to perform in Noh plays. As well, he was active in the tea
ceremony. After founding his own painting studio in 1933,
Daizaburō advised his students to study traditional culture while
taking inspiration in contemporary life. A distinguished painter of
bijinga or paintings of beautiful women, he also became noted for his
paintings of modern women during the 1930s.
For another of his paintings, c.f. the Honolulu Academy
of Arts catalogue Taishō Chic, number 22. His work is in the
collections of the Honolulu Academy of Arts, of the Kyōto Municipal
Museum of Art, and the National Museum of Modern Art, Tōkyō.
A beautiful girl holds her umbrella aside as the last
raindrops fall about her. Painted with extraordinary delicacy, her hair
clouds softly at the edges. A similar treatment appears in the margin
of the parasol, which fades from deep blue to black. Crisp, elegant
lines detail her features and curling wrist, the flamboyant boxwood
hair combs and the sweeping collars of her layered kimono. A
counterpoint of color plays to balance the composition: so the blue and
red of her hair ribbon appear again in the outer kimono and its lining
at the sleeve, the orange of her lips in her under kimono (whose color
of white damask silk reveals a pattern of bamboo and dew that echoes
the whiteness of her neck and the silver rays of rain). Around the
figure, Daizaburō fades sumi in the barest of shadows. A sense of
freshness fills the air as the young woman pauses in the sunlight.
62 ½” high x 28 ½” wide, dimensions inclusive of mounting.
20 ¼” high x 22 ½” wide, painting dimension.
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