Shimada Bokusen (1867-1943)


Taisho (1912-1868) or Showa (1926-1989) era, circa 1920-1940Kakejiku (hanging scroll); ink and colours on paper in silk mounts, depicting within a lobed reserve a recumbent stag holding down a sprig of camellia with its left foreleg and chewing on one of the petals, signed Genroku Bokusen ga (Dark stag painted by Bokusen) and sealed Toyo; with two wooden tomobako storage boxes, one inscribed outside Genroku (Dark stag); signed inside Bokusen jidai (painted by Bokusen) and sealed Shimada Toyo no in (Seal of Shimada Toyo). Overall: 142.5cm x 70.5cm (56 1/8in x 29½in); image: 42.5cm x 50cm (16¾in x 19¾in). (3).
|The term genroku (dark stag) is sometimes used for the animal that accompanies Jurojin, God of Longevity, and is said to attain its colour after the passage of 2,000 years, while the stag and camellia are a popular pairing in Chinese painting.Following the death in 1884 of his father Shimada Sekkoku, who trained him in the Maruyama style, Shimada Bokusen taught himself for a while before travelling up to Tokyo in 1886 to become a pupil of the famous painter Hashimoto Gaho; he started to exhibit his work publicly in the same year, first receiving an award in 1887. He painted a wide range of historical subjects and belonged to a succession of leading art associations, showing frequently at the Bunten national salon and its successors up until 1942, as well as at overseas exhibitions.