The Wise Man in the Moonlight

Name: The Wise Man in the Moonlight
SKU: 3460
Price: 180.00 EUR
Availability: OutOfStock

Kakemono, unique work, 180 x 58 cm

Product number: 3460

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 180 cm
Width 58 cm
Item Type Kakemono
Jikusaki Wood
Material Honshi Paper
Period of Creation Shôwa (1926–1989)
Technique Hand-Painted
Unique Work Yes

Sold

No longer available

Description

In fine, mostly uncolored ink lines, this piece captures a bearded scholar or sage figure, holding a whisk in hand and seeming to sit before a circular, moon-like surface. The restrained coloring draws the eye entirely to the linework of robe, beard, and face, while the bright circle in the background lends the image its quiet, almost otherworldly atmosphere.

Such sage or immortal figures belong to a popular motif in East Asian painting, one that traces back to Daoist and Confucian ideas of longevity, scholarship, and inner calm. Depicted before the moon, the figure appears absorbed in a moment of contemplation, removed from everyday affairs.

The motif was painted by hand on paper, presumably in the Shôwa period, and the hanging scroll is mounted with wooden jikusaki. The slightly yellowed patina of the paper lends the kakemono the additional charm of an aged unique work. For lovers of classical ink painting with a philosophical undertone, this piece is a quiet, characterful choice.

Frequently asked

I am interested in this work. Do you have more of them in stock?

No – as a one-of-a-kind piece it exists in a single example only.

Can you source a similar work?

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.

Why does the date of creation sometimes not match the artist's dates

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?.

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