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Happy New Year!

It seemed like an appropriate time to show and ask all of you about this painting (as the year of the horse will be leaving us soon.) Given the subject of Horses, Mt. Fuji and the rising sun, I am assuming this is meant to be a painting for the new year. Other than that and that it appears to be fairly old I'm stuck. Am I on track with the new year theme?

I would welcome any other thoughts about subject and artist that people might wish to share.
Thanks for looking and have a happy and healthy year.

Willie

Willie,

The first characters of the signature read 'Gyokuhô' (玉峰) but I have difficulties in reading the remaining part. First characters of the seal not read; left part of the seal reads 'ga in' (画印, 'painter's seal').

I was thinking of the Kyoto Shijô painter Hasegawa Gyokuhô (1822-79) but I'm not sure.
Further reading of the seal could bring a more conclusive answer.

Guy.

I read the seal as 肅示画印 or 'Shukiji ga (no) in'.

Leads me not one step further... .

Guy.

the last two characters of the inscription would seem to be 玉峰X寫画 perhaps, not sure of the third character; the seal should read 肅齋画印 I think.

Rat,
I haven't had much time this past week to work on the information you and Guy have provided. I can't read the language so I need to rely on character charts and books (and sometimes google translate). For me this is slow work. So I am posting before any more time goes by to say thanks for your post. I do appreciate the information and hopefully soon I'll be able to get into this a bit more.

Best regards,
Willie

Glad to try to help. I'm not so confident any more that the second character is 峰. Rather it would seem like you have a name in 3 characters (the first of which is certainly 玉), the final two characters of the five seemingly reading 写画, to write/paint. If no one chimes in with a clear reading of the initial three characters, I suggest looking for the artist's name by looking (or asking someone who reads Japanese to look up) the seal legend. There's less uncertainty about what the seal characters are. I suspect your painter won't be easy to find though; the painting quality does not suggest to me that this is by a well-known artist.

Guy,

Thanks so much for the reading. After a quick search the resemblance of "Gyokuho" in the signatures is there, albeit more so in some examples than in others. None of the seals, unfortunately, seem to come close. Of course I am only going on visuals, not on any interpretation or reading, so who knows.

You have definitely given me something to work from. I appreciate you taking the time. Do you think it is a stretch to call this a painting for the new year?

Willie

The depiction of a group of horses or stallions together is a classical Chinese inspired theme. I'm not an expert in this domain but to me, this subject and also the somewhat rigid style of your painting is more reminiscent of the Tosa school rather than the naturalist-realistic Maruyama-Shijô school from Kyoto that is more playful.

Guy.

Guy,
Thanks for the responses. As I just wrote to rat above, time has been short lately and it is slow going for me with Japanese. I did more searching for "Gyokuho" without any luck. The style doesn't seem to match with Gyokuho Hasegawa as you seem to get at with your last post. No luck with "Shukiji" either. I'll keep looking.

When I think (or thought) of the Tosa school I picture Genji or Ise and gold clouds. I guess I need to broaden my perspective. Thanks again for your time and thoughts.

Best regards,
Willie

The often repeated image of untethered horses in
a landscape is pretty much a symbol of "all is right
in the world". The composition usually includes
trees and water. If you want to learn more about
Chinese animal symbolism try "Decoded Messages" by
Hou-mei Sung, or for horses only "Power and Virtue,
The Horse in Chinese Art" by Robert Harrist.

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