Shimomura Kanzan (1873-1930) Tagasode (Whose Sleeves?)Taisho (1912-1926) or Showa (1926-1989) era, circa 1915-1930
A two-panel folding screen, ink and colours on gold-sprinkled paper, depicting a lady's silk kimono embroidered with kirimon (imperial paulownia crests), draped over a black-and-gold lacquer iko (kimono rack), signed Kanzan and sealed. Overall: 170cm x 182.3cm (66 15/16in x 71¾in); image: 152cm x 154.5cm (59 13/16in x 60¾in). (2).注脚Accompanied by a certificate issued by the Tobikantei Hyokakiko Kantei-iinkai (Tobi Appraisal Committee, successor to the Tokyo Art Club Appraisal Committee), dated Heisei 31 (2019), numbered 019-0325.

Born Shimomura Seizaburo in Wakayama City, Shimomura Kanzan studied in Tokyo under the leading Westernizing traditional painters Kano Hogai and Hashimoto Gaho before graduating with high honours from Tokyo Art School, where he worked as an instructor from 1894. He was among the founders of the Nihon Bijutsuin (Japan Fine Arts Academy) and served as a judge for both the Bunten and the Inten exhibitions. Kanzan was influenced by the Kano school through his early training under Hogai but also incorporated elements of the Edo-period decorative painting tradition, as seen in this revival of the favourite seventeenth-century screen subject of an aristocratic kimono left hanging on an elegantly lacquered screen.