KAWANABE KYOSAI (1831 1889), HOTEIKAWANABE KYOSAI (1831-1889), HOTEI Japan, 19th century. Signed Seisei-o in an archaistic cartouche. Vivid ink painting with portrayal of the lucky god Hotei seated with crossed legs. He is balancing a gnarled staff in his lap, next to him on the ground lies a single leaf. DIMENSIONS 55 x 33 cm (including frame) 50.3 x 27.2 cm (sheet size)Provenance: From an important private collection of Japanese art, acquired in Japan prior to 1938. Thereafter in the same family until the early 1980s, when it was a acquired by the present owner, an Austrian private collector.Condition: Good condition with some creasing, minor soiling, few small holes in the background with old filling, tiny pinholes, strong colors.Kawanabe Kyosai was born in 1831 in Koga, in Ibaraki Prefecture, with the original name of Shusaburo as the son of a Samurai. When he was only 6 years old, he joined the school of the great ukiyo-e master Utagawa Kuniyoshi. Later he studied traditional Japanese painting at the Kano Painting School. Kawanabe Kyosai was a drinker and a genius, a painter and printmaker of the weird, the comic and the obscure. He belonged to the generation of ukiyo-e artists in transformation from the Edo to the Meiji period.