264 - MARUYAMA OKYO: MANDARIN DUCKS

MARUYAMA OKYO: MANDARIN DUCKS By Maruyama Okyo (1733-1795), signed Okyo with seals Okyo no in and Chusen Japan, dated 1784, Edo period (1615-1868) Published: Forrer, Matthi [ed.] (2020) Kakemono: Five centuries of Japanese painting. The Perino Collection, p. 40, cat. no. 16. Exhibited: MUSEC Villa Malpensata, Lugano, Kakemono: Five centuries of Japanese painting. The Perino Collection, 17 July 2020-11 April 2021. MAO Museo d'Arte Orientale, Turin, Kakemono: Five centuries of Japanese painting. The Perino Collection, 12 November 2021-25 April 2022. Ink and watercolors on silk. Mounted as a hanging scroll on a silk brocade frame with black-lacquered wood jikusaki (roller ends). Finely painted with four mandarin ducks (oshidori), a female descending in flight toward two males and a second female gliding across the water below. The birds are rendered with delicate naturalism, the vivid plumage of the males contrasting with the subdued tones of the females, while soft washes suggest the tranquil surface of the water. Inscriptions: To the lower right, inscribed 天明甲辰初秋寫 Tenmei kinoe-tatsu shoshu utsusu [Painted in the early autumn of Tenmei 4 (1784)], signed 應舉 Okyo, with seals 應舉之印 Okyo no in [Seal of Okyo] and 仲選 Chusen. Image SIZE 109 x 41.1 cm, SIZE incl. mounting 188 x 54.7 cm Provenance: Ex-collection Dr. Claudio Perino, Turin, Italy, acquired mostly in Japan in the early 2000s. Dr. Claudio Perino (b. 1951) is a collector with a keen interest in Japanese, Chinese and Far Eastern cultures. His collection consists of over 2000 works of art, partly loaned to the Museum of Oriental Arts (MAO) in Turin, Italy and to the Museo delle Culture (MUSEC) in Lugano, Switzerland. Condition: Very good condition with minor wear and sublimely preserved colors. Few stains, light soiling, minor creasing. Maruyama Okyo (1733-1795), from present-day Kameoka, Kyoto, was a student at the Kano school of painting. He gained much renown after his first commission, the Seven Misfortunes and Seven Fortunes. As his public image grew, Okyo founded his own school in Kyoto, the Maruyama school of painting, dedicated to his style of blending Western naturalism with Eastern decorative designs. He taught his students to rely on nature to render images in a realistic picture of light, shadow, and forms. The school grew popular, and branches soon appeared in other locations, including Osaka. Much of the school's work is today preserved at Daijo-ji, a temple in Kasumi. Noteworthy pupils include Okyo's son, Maruyama Ozui, Nagasawa Rosetsu, and Matsumura Goshun. Mandarin ducks (oshidori) are among the most enduring symbols of conjugal fidelity in East Asian art and are traditionally represented in pairs. The present painting offers an unusually witty variation on this familiar auspicious theme. Two males and a female glide calmly across the water while another female swoops down to join the group, subtly complicating the conventional image of an inseparable pair. Okyo thus combines the established symbolism of marital devotion with an acute observation of living birds and a distinctly playful sense of narrative. Museum comparison: Compare a closely related hanging scroll by the same artist, Mallard and mandarin ducks, formerly in the collection of Michael Tomkinson, 115.9 x 55.3 cm, in the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., accession number F1904.128.