261 - KATSUSHIKA HOKUSAI: AN IMPORTANT AND RARE ‘RYUBI JUMPING HIS HORSE ACROSS A STREAM’ KAKEMONO (HANGING SCROLL), EXHIBITED IN 1915

KATSUSHIKA HOKUSAI: AN IMPORTANT AND RARE ‘RYUBI JUMPING HIS HORSE ACROSS A STREAM’ KAKEMONO (HANGING SCROLL), EXHIBITED IN 1915 By Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), signed zen Hokusai Iitsu hitsu with red seal Katsushika Japan, c. 1834 Published: 1. Catalogue of the Loan Exhibition of Japanese Works of Art and Handicraft from English Collections, in aid of the funds of the British Red Cross Society and the Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem in England, London, 1915, p. 18, no. 43 (not illustrated; the subject identified as Gentoku crossing the Dankei River). 2. Forrer, Matthi. “Both Ryubi and Hokusai Making a Jump in a Newly Discovered Hokusai Painting.” Elegant Gathering in a Scholar’s Garden: Studies in East Asian Art in Honor of Jeong-hee Lee-Kalisch, edited by Annegret Bergmann et al., Verlag und Datenbank für Geisteswissenschaften, 2015, p. 186-90. Exhibited: British Red Cross, Loan Exhibition of Japanese Works of Art and Handicraft from English Collections, London, 14 October-13 November 1915. Ink, watercolors, gouache on silk. Mounted as a hanging scroll on a silk brocade frame with jikusaki (roller ends). Finely painted, the dramatic composition depicts the Chinese warrior Liu Bei (Ryubi) mounted on a powerful black horse as it plunges down a steep rocky embankment and leaps across a raging stream. Liu Bei twists in the saddle to look back over his shoulder, as though checking for pursuers, his body clad in elaborate armor with richly patterned textiles, while his horse is shown in mid-stride with outstretched legs, streaming mane, and tail, heightening the sense of speed and peril. The rushing water below is rendered in broad, curling waves, while the steep banks are articulated with angular rock forms and scattered vegetation, creating a vivid contrast between the warrior’s tightly controlled figure and the turbulent landscape. Inscriptions: To the bottom-left, signed 前北斎為一筆 zen Hokusai Iitsu hitsu [Formerly Hokusai, now Iitsu, brushed this] with red seal Katsushika 葛飾. The jikusaki with two labels, ‘Loan Exhibition of Japanese Art 1915, [Red Cross] 43’ and ‘Hokusai 1760-1849, Gentoku escaping from an ambush’. The tomobako inscribed to the top of the lid, 玄徳超潭渓啚、北斎筆 Gentoku cho Tankei zu [Painting of Gentoku leaping across to the Tanxi River], and to the side, 前北斎 玄徳潭渓 Zen Hokusai, Gentoku Tankei [Formerly Hokusai, Gentoku at the Tanxi River]. The top of the lid additionally with an old handwritten collector’s label, ‘Original Painting by Hokusai, Gentoku, the Chinese Emperor, escaping from an ambush in the castle of his father-in-law by leaping on horseback (Tahiro) over the river Dankei - a jump of thirty feet across a ravine! The subject was a favorite one of Hokusai who has given another version in his Manga. […] in Catalogue, Signature on box →Hokusai,’ and an inventory label, ‘S.T.P. Collection 39.’ SIZE of the Image 79.5 x 33.5 cm, SIZE incl. mounting 167 x 46 cm Provenance: Collection S.T.P. (according to label), no. 39. The private collection of Dr. Jonathan Hutchinson, London, UK. A private collection in the USA. Doyle New York, 4 April 2006, lot 3108 (group lot). A private collection in the Netherlands, acquired from the above. Dr. Jonathan Hutchinson (1859 - 1933) was an English ophthalmic surgeon and the son of the famous surgeon and pathologist Sir Jonathan Hutchinson (1828-1913). An important early collector and scholar of Japanese art, Hutchinson was particularly active in the study and promotion of Japanese prints and works of art in Britain and served as both a Council Member and Vice-President of the Japan Society, London. He assembled a substantial collection encompassing ukiyo-e prints, drawings, surimono, illustrated books, kakemono, netsuke, lacquer, metalwork, carvings, and ceramics. Following his death, the collection was dispersed at Sotheby & Co., London, on 29-30 June 1933 in the dedicated sale Catalogue of the Important Collection of Japanese Colour Prints and Works of Art, the Property of the Late Jonathan Hutchinson, Esq., F.R.C.S. Condition: Very good condition with minor wear. The colors are superbly preserved. Only little soiling and negligible flaking to pigment. The mounting with typical traces of wear and use. With the original wood tomobako (storage box). Auction comparison: Compare a related painted ema (votive plaque) depicting Minamoto no Yoshitsune, by Katsushika Hokusai, dated c. 1830s, image size 39 x 54 cm, at Zacke, Fine Japanese Art, 6 December 2024, Vienna, lot 268 (sold for EUR 97,500). Due to length restriction on Drouot this entry is shortened. For full description please visit www.zacke.at.