Nishikawa Sukenobu

Nishikawa Sukenobu (1671-1751) Twelve Erotic Scenes of Courtesans and Clients Signed Nishikawa Sukenobu hitsu, sealed Nishikawa uji and Sukenobuga in Handscroll; ink, color, gold and mica on silk 9 7/8 x 206¼in. (25 x 524cm.) Lot Notes Previously sold in these Rooms, 19 September, 2000, lot147

Nishikawa Sukenobu (1671-1750) Beauty with clock Signed Nishikawa Ukyo Sukenobu ga kore, sealed Nishikawa uji and Sukenobu ga in, poem signed and sealed by Sawada Toyo (1804-1847), reading: Shin'ya ranto an mata mei, iwazu kaette kore tajo arawaru; Gaihen sudeni kanro no matsu ari, jimei ni reisoku shite goko ni mukawashimu. Hanging scroll; ink, color and gold on silk 28 3/8 x 15¼in. (72.2 x 38.8cm.) Exhibited "Sakikaoru Edo no joseibi: Nikuhitsu ukiyoe meisaku ten" (The blooming and fragrant beauty of Edo women: Exhibition of masterpieces of ukiyo-e paintings), shown at the following venues: Matsuzakaya Department Store, Nagoya, 1984.1.4--11 Shinsaibashi Sogo Department Store, Osaka, 1984.1.27--2.8 Nihonbashi Tokyu Department Store, Tokyo, 1984. 2.17--29 Shijo Takashimaya Department Store, Kyoto, 1984.4.19--5.1 The Museum of Kyoto, "Kaikan goshunen kinen tokubetsuten - Kyo no bijinga ten: Koseiha no kyoen, Edo, Meiji, Taisho" (Special exhibition of the fifth anniversary of the opening of the museum - Beauty paintings in Kyoto: Selected representative artists, Edo, Meiji and Taisho periods), 1993.9.10--10.11 Kushigata Shunsen Museum, Kushigatacho, Yamanashi, "Ukiyoe no hana - Kenrantaru nikuhitsu ukiyoe no sekai: Nikuhitsu ukiyoe meisakuten" (The flowers of ukiyo-e: The gorgeous world of ukiyo-e paintings), 1995.4.29--6.25 Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, "Images du Monde Flottant: Peintures et estampes japonaises XVIIe-XVIIIe siècles" (Images of the floating world: Japanese paintings and prints of the 17th-18th centuries), 2004.9.27--2005.1.3 Museum für Asiatische Kunst, Berlin-Dahlem, "Schönheit und Eros: Bilder der Fleissenden Welt von Hokusai, Hiroshige, Utamaro und anderen aus der Sammlung Sumisho, Tokyo," 2008.10.17--2009.1.4 PUBLISHED: Genshoku ukiyoe daihyakkajiten henshu iinkai, ed., Ukiyoeshi (Ukiyo-e painters), vol. 11 of Genshoku ukiyoe daihyakkajiten (Encyclopedia of ukiyo-e in full color) (Tokyo: Taishukan shoten, 1982), pl. 297. Narazaki Muneshige, "Nishikawa Sukenobu hitsu bijinga" (Beauty painting by Nishikawa Sukenobu), Kokka 1052 (1983), p. 27. Narazaki Muneshige, ed., Nikuhitsu ukiyoe I (Ukiyo-e painting I), Nihon no bijutsu (Art of Japan) 248 (Tokyo: Shibundo, 1987), pl. 52. Kobijutsu 65 (1983) [special issue on ukiyo-e painting; illustrated]. Kobayashi Tadashi, Edo kaigashiron (History of Edo painting) (Tokyo: Ruri shobo, 1983), pl. 60. _____, Edo no shomin bunka - Ukiyoe no miryoku (Popular culture in Edo - Charm of ukiyo-e) (Tokyo: Bijinesu kyoiku shuppansha, 1984), pp. 204--205. _____, "Ukiyoe to gasan" (Ukiyo-e and inscriptions on the paintings) in Kobayashi Tadashi, ed., Nyu Otani Bijutsukan (New Otani Art Museum), vol. 8 of Nikuhitsu ukiyoe taikan/Ukiyo-e paintings in Japanese Collections (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1995), p. 19. Asahi shinbunsha, ed., Sakikaoru Edo no joseibi: Nikuhitsu ukiyoe meisaku ten (The blooming and fragrant beauty of Edo women: Exhibition of masterpieces of ukiyo-e paintings) (Tokyo: Asahi shinbunsha, 1984), pl. 51. Narazaki Muneshige, ed., Nikuhitsu ukiyoe I (Ukiyo-e painting I), Nihon no bijutsu (Art of Japan) 248 (Tokyo: Shibundo, 1987), pl. 52. Inagaki Shin'ichi, ed., Zusetsu ukiyoe nyumon (Illustrated guide to ukiyo-e) (Tokyo: Kawade shobo shinsha, 1990), pl. 51. The Museum of Kyoto, ed., Kaikan goshunen kinen tokubetsuten - Kyo no bijinga ten: Koseiha no kyoen, Edo, Meiji, Taisho (Special exhibition of the fifth anniversary of the opening of the museum - Beauty paintings in Kyoto: Selected representative artists, Edo, Meiji and Taisho periods) (Kyoto: The Museum of Kyoto, 1993), pl. 21. Sadamura Tadashi, ed., Ukiyoe no hana - Kenrantaru nikuhitsu ukiyoe no sekai: Nikuhitsu ukiyoe meisakuten (The flowers of ukiyo-e: The gorgeous world of ukiyo-e painting) (Tokyo: Bun'yusha, 1995), pl. 20. Helène Bayou et al., eds., Images du Monde Flottant: Peintures et estampes japonaises XVIIe-XVIIIe siècles (Images of the floating world: Japanese paintings and prints of the 17th-18th centuries) (Paris: Editions de la Réunion des musées nationaux Paris, 2004), pl. 86. Lot Notes Nishikawa Sukenobu was the leading Kyoto-based ukiyo-e artist of his generation. Here, a young courtesan grasps the strings of the counterweights for the chimes of a clock mounted on a wood pillar on the wall. It is a night scene, illuminated by a lantern. Perhaps the young woman hopes to prevent the chimes from waking her lover and signaling the advent of dawn. The Chinese-style poem, by one Gentetsu, inscribed on the painting by Sawada Toyo in the nineteenth century, proposes another theory: it suggests that the lover is waiting outside for the prearranged sound of the clock striking a specified hour, but the impatient beauty is in the process of advancing the hour and sending the signal sooner. Be that as it may, her expression is impassive and gives no hint of her underlying passion.

Signed Sukenobu hitsu, sealed Nishikawa uji and Sukenobu zu kore Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk 15½ x 23¼in. (39.5 x 59cm.) Lot Notes The poem by Minamoto no Toshiyori (1055?-1129?) is from the Kamakura-period imperial poetry anthology Gyokuyo wakashu (Collection of Jeweled Leaves): Matsukage no utsureru yado no ike nareba mizunomi tori mo chiyo zo sumubeki With the beautiful reflection of the shadow of a pine tree in the pond of a mansion, birds that come to the pond to drink should stay forever.

NISHIKAWA SUKENOBU (1671-1750)* Beauties admiring a flowering cherry Edo period, Kyoho (1716-36)--Genbun (1736-41) eras Signed Bunkado Nishikawa Ukyo Sukenobu kore [o] ga [su], sealedNishikawa uji and Sukenobu kore [o] zu [su] Hanging scroll; ink, color and gold on silk 30 x 13.1/8in. (77.5 x 33.3cm.) Provenance Shibatsuji Yasukichi, Kyoto Exhibited Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, 1938.3.12--27 Mitsukoshi Department Store, Ikebukuro, Tokyo,1977.6.14--19 Lot Notes published: Azabu Museum of Art, ed., Azabu bijutsukan: Shuzohin zuroku (AzabuMuseum of Art: Catalogue of the collection) (Tokyo: Azabu Museum ofArt, 1986), pl. 7. Kaneko Fusui, ed., Nikuhitsu ukiyo-e shusei/Ukiyo-e Paintings inJapanese Collections, vol. 2 (Tokyo: Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1977),no. 84. Kobayashi Tadashi, ed. Azabu bijutsu kogeikan (Azabu Museum of Artsand Crafts), vol. 6 of Nikuhitsu ukiyo-e taikan (Tokyo: Kodansha,1995), pls. 89--1, 89--2. Nikuhitsu ukiyo-e meihin ten (Exhibition of masterpieces of ukiyo-epainting), exh. cat. (Tokyo: Mitsukoshi Department Store,Ikebukuro, 1977), no. 143. Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, ed., Nikuhitsu ukiyo-e senshu(Selection of ukiyo-e painting), exh. cat. (Kyoto: Unsodo, 1938),no. 23. Wakakuwa Midori, Kakusareta shisen: Ukiyo-e, yoga no josei rataizo(Hidden line of vision: The female nude in ukiyo-e and Westernpainting), vol. 2 of Iwanami kindai Nihon no bijutsu (Tokyo:Iwanami Shoten, 1997), pl. 13. Yoshida Teruji, Ranjuku jidai, 1 (The period of maturity, 1), vol.6 of Ukiyo-e taisei (Tokyo: Toho Shoin, 1931), no. 295.

NISHIKAWA SUKENOBU (1671-1750)* Courtesan and attendant looking up at a cuckoo Signed Nishikawa Sukenobu hitsu, sealed Nishikawa uji and Sukenobukore [o] zu [su] Hanging scroll; ink, color and gold on paper 36 x 14.1/8in. (93.5 x 36cm.) Provenance Hirano Masakichi, Akita City Lot Notes published: Shibui Kiyoshi, ed., Nikuhitsu ukiyo-e bijinga shusei/Ukiyo-epaintings of Beauties in Japanese Collections, vol. 1 (Tokyo:Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1983), Genroku pl. 20.