Saegusa Sokō (三枝素光): Nihonga Painter of the Taishō Era
Saegusa Sokō (三枝素光) was a Japanese Nihonga painter whose work falls within the Taishō era. He was active in the vicinity of Tōkyō and thus belonged to the Kantō branch of the Japanese painting establishment, which was organizationally kept separate from the Kyōto tradition.
Bunten and Teiten: The Exhibition System of the Time
Sokō exhibited at the Bunten and its successor, the Teiten. From 1907 onward, these state-sponsored annual exhibitions largely determined who was recognized as a painter: acceptance by the jury meant professional recognition, and repeated acceptances established a career. For Nihonga painters of those years, the path through these exhibitions was practically without alternative, unless they joined one of the independent associations.
The Wild Boar and the Tenth Month
The boar closes the Japanese zodiac and is assigned to the tenth month — a kakemono with this motif therefore belongs to late autumn, when the foliage turns color. In the Nihonga technique using mineral pigments on silk, the scene draws its appeal from the contrast of materials: the bristly, matte fur against the smoothly applied red and yellow of the autumn foliage. Unlike the crane or the pine, the boar is not a symbol of good fortune for festive occasions, but a seasonal picture in the narrower sense, one that is hung and taken down again after a few weeks.
