Ryuzaburo Umehara

Umehara Ryuzaburo (1888-1986) Shushoku enkei (Autumn landscape) Sealed Ryu Mineral pigment and gold on paper 15½ x 12¼in. (39.4 x 31cm.) Painted in October 1955 Certificate on verso titled, dated 1955.10, signed and sealed by the artist; with Tokyo Bijutsu Club certificate no. 000-849, 2000.12.25 Lot Notes Umehara was fascinated by Mount Asama, an active volcano and tourist destination, and he painted it many times. Another example, lot 26, attests to the creative interpretation he gave to each variation. A master of Japanese modern painting, Umehara's artistic sources may be traced to his childhood in Kyoto and to his early studies in France at the beginning of the twentieth century. His family manufactured white cloth for the kimono industry and Umehara watched as pattern designers and dyers energized the material with the bold designs and bright colors of traditional Japanese art. From these designs he learned clarity of form and color. From French painting and particularly from Renoir with whom he studied in 1908, Umehara learned the techniques of Western-style oil painting and the freedom to expand upon the conventional spatial arrangements of Japanese art.

Umehara Ryuzaburo (1888-1986) Peonies in a Chinese vase (Chugoku no tsubo to botan) Signed R.U. Oil on canvas 25¾ x 20.7/8in. (65.2 x 53cm.) With Tokyo Bijutsu Club certificate no. 99-600,1999.11.26 Lot Notes For a painting of roses in the same vase dated 1943 see KawakitaMichiaki, ed., Umehara Ryuzaburo (Tokyo: Shueisha, 1998), no. 152.

Umehara Ryuzaburo (1888-1986) Asamayama (Mount Asama) Signed RU, signed and titled on reverse of stretcher AsamayamaUmehara Ryuzaburo and on tape affixed to reverse of stretcher R.Umehara Oil on canvas, framed and glazed 14.7/8 x 17.7/8in. (37.8 x 45.4cm.) Lot Notes Umehara had often visited the resort town of Karuizawa, nearTokyo, but it was in 1950 that he first rented a house there inorder to begin painting the local volcano, Mount Asama. Three yearslater he built himself a country villa next door. For examples ofhis other paintings of Mount Asama see Tomiyama Hideo and HaradaMinoru, Umehara Ryuzaburo/Yasui Sotaro, vol. 14 of 20-seiki Nihonno bijutsu/Art Gallery Japan (Tokyo: Shueisha, 1987), pls. 25,26.

Umehara Ryuzaburo (1888-1986) Temple of Heaven, Beijing (Tendan) Sealed Ryu Oil and mineral pigments on canvas 30 x 25¼in. (76 x 64cm.) Painted circa 1941 With Tokyo Bijutsu Club certificate no. 99-599,1999.11.26 Exhibited Gallery Yoshii, Tokyo, "Umehara Ryuzaburo Pekin sakuhinten/Exposition Ryuzaburo Uméhara au Pékin," (Exhibition of UmeharaRyuzaburo: Peking Works), 1972.5.8--5.30 Lot Notes PUBLISHED: Umehara Ryuzaburo Pekin sakuhin ten/Exposition Ryuzaburo Uméhara auPékin (Exhibition of Umehara Ryuzaburo: Peking Works), exh. cat.(Tokyo: Gallery Yoshii, 1972), no. 58. Gashu Pekin Umehara Ryuzaburo (Umehara Ryuzaburo: Pekingpaintings), vol. 3 of Umehara Ryuzaburo/Ryuzaburo Umehara (Tokyo: Kyuryudo, 1973), pl. 21. Umehara was a colorist who experimented with various techniques inan effort to create "Japanese" oil paintings. At times heincorporated gold and platinum into his landscapes. At other timeshe squeezed the oil from the tube directly onto the canvas. Fromthe early 1930s he started to use a combination of oils andtraditional mineral pigments (as in "Temple of Heaven") but he alsopainted on paper with mineral pigments thinned with a polyvinylsolution.

Umehara Ryuzaburo (1888-1986) Rafu zu (Nude) Signed Umehara Ryuzaburo hitsu and dated Showa 7 natsu (summer1932) on left front of stretcher under frame; titled in Japanese onverso and similarly signed and dated Oil on canvas 16½ x 116in. (42 x 29cm.) With Tokyo Bijutsu Club certificate no. 99-598,1999.11.26