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Night Boat Ride Beneath the Pine

Kakemono, unique work, 175 x 80 cm
Product number: 4388

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.

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Details about the sold piece

  • Height 175 cm
  • Width 80 cm
  • Item Type Kakemono
  • Jikusaki Wood
  • Material Honshi Silk
  • Period of Creation Shôwa (1926–1989)
  • Technique Hand-Painted
  • Unique Work Yes
Sold

No longer available

Description

Painted with the finest brush and luminous colors on silk, this exceptional hanging scroll depicts a small party in a covered boat, gathered beneath the far-reaching, moss-draped branches of an old pine. A scholar, a monk, and several companions are clearly enjoying a convivial excursion on the still water, while in the background a delicate moon shimmers through the haze.

Such nocturnal excursions of scholars and friends are among the popular literary motifs of East Asian painting and stand for leisure, friendship, and the quiet enjoyment of art, music, and nature. The accompanying, extensive calligraphy at the right edge of the image lends the work an additional poetic-narrative character.

Created in the Shôwa period and mounted with a wood fitting, this Kakemono captivates through its unusually rich coloring and narrative density. An exceptional collector's piece for all who are enthusiastic about figurative Japanese painting with literary reference.

Frequently asked

No – as a one-of-a-kind piece it exists in a single example only.
We would be glad to look for one. Get in touch with the details of the object you are looking for and we will see what we can do.
Because the two pieces of information speak about different things: the period designation describes the object – support, colors, condition – while the signature reflects which name appears on the painting. In most cases there is no attempt at deception behind this, but rather Japanese painting training: copying from workshop models was the curriculum for centuries, an utsushi is regarded as a bow to the teacher, workshops signed with the master's name, and artist names were passed down within a school. Such a hanging scroll is therefore not a forgery, but a hand-painted one-of-a-kind that continues the formal language of its school – just not the work of the famous name, and priced accordingly. We explain this in detail in the guide Why does a kakemono often bear the signature of an artist long deceased?.