{"title":"Featured Artworks","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"early-spring早春","title":"Eisetsu Shiratori - Early Spring(早春)","description":"\u003cp\u003eEarly Spring\" (早春) is an exquisite Nihonga hanging scroll by Eisetsu Shiratori, one of the most distinguished bijin-ga painters of the 20th century. The work depicts an elegant woman in a layered kimono adorned with a delicate botanical pattern of nandina (heavenly bamboo) berries and foliage, with a deep teal-green obi sash. She reaches upward toward a branch of white plum blossoms (ume), a quintessential symbol of early spring in Japanese culture. The woman wears a traditional hairstyle held with kōgai (ornamental hairpin) and a cloth veil (okoso-zukin), evoking the refined femininity of the Edo period while maintaining a distinctly modern sensibility. Shiratori studied under the legendary bijin-ga master Itō Shinsui from 1932, and devoted his life to the pursuit of idealized feminine beauty through the Nihonga tradition. Orphaned as a young child — losing his mother shortly after birth and his father at age eight — Shiratori found solace in Shinsui's paintings of beautiful women, in which he saw the image of the mother he never knew. This deeply personal motivation infused his entire oeuvre with a quality of tender reverence. The present work exemplifies Shiratori's mature style: refined draftsmanship, subtle color harmonies of soft pink, teal green, and gold against a pale ground, and the traditional Nihonga technique of layering mineral pigments on silk. The gofun (shell white) used for the plum blossoms — noted in the condition report as showing some flaking — testifies to the authentic use of traditional materials. The composition balances the figure's graceful vertical pose against the angular thrust of the plum branch, creating a dynamic tension characteristic of the artist's finest bijin-ga works. Shiratori received numerous prestigious accolades during his career, including the Prime Minister's Award at the Nitten exhibition for \"Jakushō\" (寂照, 1986), and the Imperial Prize and Japan Art Academy Award for \"Kikujidō\" (菊慈童, 1993). He was appointed a Member of the Japan Art Academy in 1997, and in 1998, his masterwork \"Hagoromo\" (羽衣) was displayed in the Prime Minister's official residence. His works are permanently housed at the Komoro Kōgen Museum of Art \/ Shiratori Eisetsu Gallery in his hometown of Komoro, Nagano Prefecture, to which he donated 195 works.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eArtist: \u003cspan style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003eEisetsu Shiratori(Japan, 1912−2007)\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYear: ca.1950\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMedium: Painting\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMaterials: Hanging scroll; ink and coor on silk\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eClassification: Unique\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSize: (H)81.8cm, (W)65.2cm\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSignature: Signed, sealed lower left; with original tomobako (wooden box) inscribed with title and signed by the artist.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Tokyo Dealers Stock","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47993969410286,"sku":null,"price":650000.0,"currency_code":"JPY","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0801\/1946\/4174\/files\/1.jpg?v=1778234235"},{"product_id":"setsugo-after-the-snow-雪後","title":"Hoshun Yamaguchi - After the Snow (雪後)","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn 'Setsugo' (After the Snow), \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eHoshun Yamaguchi distills the centuries-old kacho-ga (bird-and-flower) tradition into a study in restraint and modernist composition. Snow-laden bamboo arches across the upper register, its weight described in passages of white gofun pigment held by the lightest of ink contours; below, a solitary bullfinch (uso) cuts diagonally across the muted silver-grey ground, its rust-orange breast the painting's single warm note. The dialogue between the arc of the snow-bound branch and the line of the bird's flight reveals Hoshun's lifelong engagement with French modernism, the spatial logic of Braque and the simplified line of Matisse, absorbed into the disciplined vocabulary of Nihonga. Hoshun, a recipient of the Order of Culture in 1965, was among the most influential figures in postwar Japanese painting; his former studio in Hayama is preserved today as the \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eHoshun Yamaguchi Memorial Museum.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eArtist: Hoshun Yamaguchi (Japan, 1893-1971)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYear: 1893-1971\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMedium: Painting\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMaterials: Mineral pigments and ink on paper, hanging scroll (kakejiku) mounting\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eClassification: Unique\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSize: (H)147.3cm, (W)40.7cm.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSignature: Signed 'Hoshun hitsu' with red seal at lower right of painting. Tomobako lid and inner lid bear artist's inscription with seals.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Tokyo Dealers Stock","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48004459692270,"sku":null,"price":845000.0,"currency_code":"JPY","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0801\/1946\/4174\/files\/1_81170f5d-81f8-4fbf-931f-bcabfeaa1071.jpg?v=1778647722"},{"product_id":"ryushi-kawabata-long-spring-長春図","title":"Ryushi Kawabata - Long Spring (長春図)","description":"\u003cp\u003eA serene Nihonga still-life by Ryushi Kawabata, painted in early summer of Showa 30 (1955) when the artist was at the height of his mastery. The title 'Choshun' is the classical Japanese name for the ornamental rose introduced from China, prized for its remarkably long blooming season. Here the artist captures a single fully-opened white rose, a tight crimson bud, and abundant verdant foliage emerging from a bold red and white sometsuke-style vase, all rendered in mineral pigments on silk. The composition unites the decorative refinement of classical Nihonga with the romantic, dynamic sensibility that defined Kawabata's mature work. As founder of the Seiryusha school and a recipient of the Order of Cultural Merit (1959), Kawabata was one of the leading Nihonga masters of the 20th century, and intimate scroll paintings such as this one — bearing both an in-painting signature with seal and an original artist-inscribed tomobako — represent the most reliably authenticated category of his work for collectors.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eArtist: Ryushi Kawabata (Japan, 1885-1966)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYear: 1955\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMedium: Painting\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMaterials: Color and mineral pigments on silk (Nihonga)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eClassification: Unique\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSize: (H)45.0cm, (W)57.0cm. Framed (mounted scroll): (H)154.5cm, (W)78.6cm.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSignature: Signed 'Ryushi' with red artist's seal at lower right of painting. Wooden box (tomobako) inscribed with title and signature by artist.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Tokyo Dealers Stock","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48004802609390,"sku":null,"price":260000.0,"currency_code":"JPY","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0801\/1946\/4174\/files\/2_21bb35e3-dc4f-43d7-8798-ee96c2c64b47.jpg?v=1778654598"},{"product_id":"kojin-kudo-oirase-奥入瀬","title":"Kojin Kudo - Oirase (奥入瀬)","description":"\u003cp\u003eOirase (奥入瀬) depicts the lush forest floor along the Oirase Stream in Aomori Prefecture, a landscape deeply familiar to the artist Kojin Kudo who was born in nearby Hirosaki. A Japanese squirrel peers cautiously from a hollow in a massive, moss-covered tree trunk, surrounded by luminous fiddlehead ferns unfurling in golden-cream tones and broad teal hosta-like leaves rendered in Kudo's signature flat mineral-pigment planes. The shimmering stream glints through the undergrowth, while small white hydrangea blossoms and delicate ivy add botanical detail. Kudo's technique — fine descriptive line work for the animals contrasted with expansive flat color fields of azurite-blue pigment for the foliage — creates a jewel-like, dreamlike atmosphere that is the hallmark of his mature Nihonga style. The painting exemplifies his lifelong devotion to the micro-world of nature: insects, small animals, and plants observed with intimate precision and elevated into a decorative, almost mystical composition.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eArtist: Kojin Kudo (Japan, 1915–2011)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYear: 1915–2011\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMedium: Painting\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMaterials: Mineral pigments on paper (Nihonga)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eClassification: Unique\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSize: (H) 41.0 cm, (W) 53.0 cm. Framed: (H) 59.0 cm, (W) 71.2 cm, (D) 6.0 cm\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSignature: Artist's cursive signature 'Kojin' in light green pigment with red square seal, lower right on picture surface.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Tokyo Dealers Stock","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48004919361774,"sku":null,"price":221000.0,"currency_code":"JPY","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0801\/1946\/4174\/files\/7917.jpg?v=1778657745"}],"url":"https:\/\/tokyodealersstock.com\/collections\/featured-artworks.oembed","provider":"Tokyo Dealers Stock","version":"1.0","type":"link"}