Yazawa Gengetsu – 矢沢弦月 (1886~1952) – Sansui – 山水

Yazawa-san was highly skilled in many painting styles and techniques, as can be seen with a quick comparison between this piece held in the Museum of Fine Arts, and this piece in the MOMAT. He was born in Nagano as Yazawa Sadanobu. He studied with the greats Terasaki Kogyo and Kubota Beisen. We do not know if either master gave him a painting name, as was usually the case, but he somehow settled on “crescent moon” (Gengetsu), which is appropriately poetic for a painter with a family name meaning marsh or valley (crescent moon over the valley). He was a juror for the Bunten and Teiten Exhibitions (first prize, 1913), a member of the Paris-Japanese Exhibition Committee, and taught at the Japanese National School of Painting. Rising high in the academic circles led him to be chosen as the official painter of the Empress’ visit to a school for girls. Travelling in Korea and China and studying the painting techniques of those two countries had a noticeable affect upon his traditionally themed painting as can be seen with this painting we have for sale here. He also traveled the United States and Europe to study painting for  a year. During the second world war, he, like many other painters, documented battles for posterity, as can be seen here. He is held extensively and private collections and museums internationally. Good condition (light creases).

LONG! 21″ x  85″ – $250 – Price includes shipping worldwide! Comes with a signed and sealed document of authenticity and an email with links to roughly 3 hours worth of further reading and documentary viewing related to the piece. All prices in Canadian dollars.