Schedule

Bidding period: November 10 (Fri) to November 26 (Sun), 2023 from 6pm JST
Preview: November 18 (Sat) to November 26 (Sun), 2023 from 10am to 6pm
Results: November 28 (Tue), 2023 from 3pm JST
Venue: Kashima Arts (3-3-2 Kyobashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo)
Offering: 528 lots

Highlights

■Watanabe Seitei
Watanabe Seitei became the first Japanese painter to travel to France when he exhibited his work at the Paris Exposition of 1878. His works created by superb realism and refined sense of composition captivated the Western world. Unfortunately, there was no one to inherit his skills, and after his death he became less prominent. In recent years, he is gaining increasing attention and is being reevaluated as one of the leading masters of his era. This year's exhibition features 23 works ranging from flower-and-bird paintings, which were Seitei's greatest forte, to Buddhist paintings, landscapes and calligraphy. Visitors are invited to enjoy the unique world of Seitei, incorporating Japanese sentiments with Western realism.

■Yokoyama Taikan / Hishida Shunso
Yokoyama Taikan and Hishida Shunso, who worked under Okakura Tenshin to create a new style of Japanese painting, laid the foundation for the modern Japanese painting world. The two artists met at the Tokyo Fine Arts School and became close friends, participating in the Japan Art Academy and traveling to Western Europe together, competing against one another until Shunso’s early death at the age of 36. Taikan admired Shunso, who was six years younger than him as if he were his mentor. Although Taikan later gained fame as a nationally renowned painter, even in his later years he is known to have said, "Shunso was much more skillful than me.” This is a brilliant and timeless collaboration of two masters who supported the birth of modern Japanese painting.