alb3605879

WATANABE KAZAN. Sketch for the Portrait of Tachihara Suiken

Sketch for the Portrait of Tachihara Suiken. Artist: Watanabe Kazan (Japanese, 1793-1841). Culture: Japan. Dimensions: 29 1/8 x 17 in. (74 x 43.2 cm). Date: 19th century.
Tachihara Suiken was the father of a close friend of Kazan's. The completed work is now lost, but several surviving sketches reveal that the artist rejected the concealment of physical defects in favor of a sympathetic realism. In this sketch, the only embellishments that refer to the subject's social status are his sword and the book tucked into his robe. His shriveled mouth and unshaven chin, adroitly captured by the Western technique of chiaroscuro--which Kazan had studied--enhance the impression of intense self-determination made by this eighty-one-year-old samurai.

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Author: WATANABE KAZAN (1793-1841)

Title: Sketch for the Portrait of Tachihara Suiken

Caption: Sketch for the Portrait of Tachihara Suiken. Artist: Watanabe Kazan (Japanese, 1793-1841). Culture: Japan. Dimensions: 29 1/8 x 17 in. (74 x 43.2 cm). Date: 19th century. Tachihara Suiken was the father of a close friend of Kazan's. The completed work is now lost, but several surviving sketches reveal that the artist rejected the concealment of physical defects in favor of a sympathetic realism. In this sketch, the only embellishments that refer to the subject's social status are his sword and the book tucked into his robe. His shriveled mouth and unshaven chin, adroitly captured by the Western technique of chiaroscuro--which Kazan had studied--enhance the impression of intense self-determination made by this eighty-one-year-old samurai.

Technique/material: Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper

Period: Edo period (1615-1868)

Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

Credit: Album

Image size: 2741 × 4400 px | 34.5 MB

Print size: 23.2 × 37.3 cm | 1079.1 × 1732.3 in (300 dpi)

Keywords: ASIA • ASIAN ART • EDO PERIOD (1615-1868) • HANGING SCROLL; INK AND COLOR ON PAPER • HANGING SCROLLS • INK • JAPAN • METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NEW YORK, USA • PAINTINGS • PAPER • SCROLL PAINTINGS • SCROLLS • WATANABE KAZAN