Koi Above the Reeds in Clear Water
Sold – no longer available
This piece was a handmade one-of-a-kind work. It cannot be reordered and will never exist in this form again. The page stays online as part of our archive.
You might like these pieces
Details about the sold piece
- Height 190 cm
- Width 50 cm
- Item Type Kakemono
- Jikusaki Bone
- Material Honshi Silk
- Period of Creation Shôwa (1926–1989)
- Technique Hand-Painted
- Unique Work Yes
No longer available
Description
With the finest, transparently applied layers of color, a koi is captured here, swinging elegantly upward through the water, while its fins blur softly as if in the flow of the water, lending the fish an almost weightless grace that pervades the entire pictorial space.
The koi has long been regarded in Japan as a symbol of endurance, courage, and success, as legend has it that it swims against the current to become a dragon at the top of a waterfall – an image that continues to be understood as a symbol of good fortune to this day. Reed stalks at the lower edge of the picture indicate the fish's natural habitat and round off the composition.
Painted on paper in the Shôwa period and fitted with roller ends made of bone, this hand-painted unique work is a graceful example of classical Japanese animal painting with a fine sense of movement and light. To this day, the koi remains one of the most popular animal motifs in Japanese painting and is often given as a gift with the wish for success.
