Ink and color on paper
Japan. 17th to early 18th cent.
SIZES AROUND 10 TO 20 CM
Itcho was a significant calligrapher, painter and also poet in Japan, a very multi-talented allrounder. Born in Osaka as son of a physician, he learned painting from Kano Yasunobu, then went his own way. Because his depictions were largely devoted to scenes from life in Edo (Tokyo), also Yoshiwara, one terms his style as “between Kano and jukiyo-e“. He became famous through his forced exile after he painted the concubine of the Shogun in burlesque manner. So he spent more than 10 years on the island of Miyake Shima. His works there (particularly costly) were signed by “the island Itcho“, Shima Itcho. The four drawings each show a figurative depiction - each with admirable, precise brushwork. All are irregularly cut and mounted (see below about the collector).
From the collection of the medical eye specialist and politician émile Javal, 1839 - 1907. He was a parlament member, friend of Zola and wrote the decisive expertise in the 2nd trial against Dreyfuss. Javal was an officer of the Legion of Honour and had five children.
Expertise:
Wolfmar Zacken
From an English private collection