Ogata Gekko (1859-1920)


Meiji (1868-1912) or Taisho era (1912-1926), early 20th centuryPair of six-panel folding screens, ink and colours on gold-washed paper, depicting dolls in a variety of court and military ceremonies, each signed Gekko with a seal. Overall: 124.3cm x 276.8cm (49in x 109in); image: 120.7cm x 273.6cm (47½in x 107¾in).
|A prolific painter, print-designer, and illustrator, Ogata Gekko is perhaps best known today for his stirring propaganda prints depicting the success of the imperial forces in the Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895), but he was an accomplished artist in many different styles and genres. Self-taught in art (although strongly influenced by Kikuchi Yosai), he is said to have started his career decorating porcelain but he soon rose in status, joining leading painting societies and exhibition juries and moving in the same circles as the influential American pundit Ernest Fenollosa and the cultural ideologue Okakura Kakuzo. Following the success of his war prints, Gekko was selected to exhibit large-scale figural compositions at several international expositions including Chicago (1893), Paris (1900), and London (1910).