Tomioka Eisen (1864-1905)


Meiji era (1868-1912), circa 1900-1905Kakejiku (vertical hanging scroll); ink and colours on silk in silk mounts, the jikusaki (scroll ends) in black lacquer with rinbo (wheels of the Buddhist law) in gold lacquer, depicting a ferocious, muscular nio (Buddhist guardian deity) riding on a cloud and grasping a terrified oni (demon) in each hand, signed Mosai with seal Eisen; with double wooden storage boxes. Overall: 209cm x 72cm (82¼in x 28 3/8in); image: 115.5cm x 50cm (45½in x 19¾in). (3).
|Born in Nagano Prefecture, Tomioka Eisen worked for a time as a civilian member of the imperial army staff but in 1882 became a pupil of Kobayashi Eitaku (1843-1890), resigning in 1900 to pursue a career as an independent painter, illustrator, and designer of postcards. The composition of the present lot reflects the influence of Eitaku's dramatic pictorial style as seen in such paintings as his Sugawara Michizane Praying on Tenpai-Zan in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, which also houses a collection of Eisen's graphic work.