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Sofu TESHIGAHARA (1900–1979) Untitled
Six-panel folding scre…
See original version (French)
305
-
Sofu TESHIGAHARA (1900–1979) Untitled
Six-panel folding scre…
See original version (French)
Estimate €12,000 - €18,000
Voluntary lot
Description
Sofu TESHIGAHARA (1900–1979)
Untitled
Six-panel folding screen.
Seal in the bottom left-hand corner.
173 x 364 cm
Condition:
minor losses and lifting
panel 5: restored tears in the bottom right-hand corner.
Traces of damp around the hinges
panel 1: silk slightly warped.
six very fine chiselled bronze corner fittings on the two outer panels
Expert: CHANOIT
A leading figure in 20th-century Japanese art, Sofu Teshigahara is universally recognised as the great master of ikebana, the art of flower arranging practised in Japan for centuries.
As the founder of the Sōgetsu school, he profoundly revitalised this discipline by infusing it with an unprecedented creative freedom and bringing it closer to the movements of modern art. He exhibited for the first time as a sculptor at the Bridgestone Museum in Tokyo in 1957, and went on to gain recognition in the West thanks to the French art critic and curator Michel Tapié, who organised his first solo exhibition in Europe at the Galerie Stadler in Paris in 1959. In personal notes written during his first trip to Japan in 1957, Tapié enthused:
‘When I first met [Teshigahara], I sensed that I was in the presence of one of those exceptional creative talents, capable of presenting his work to the world. This kind of creativity is rare. After Picasso, only Pollock’s work has impressed me as much.’²
Alongside his floral work, Teshigahara developed a body of sculptural work of remarkable diversity. He created sculptures in stone and wood, using trunks, roots and twisted branches whose dynamic, almost baroque forms seem to transcend the models of nature itself. Some of his creations combine wood with metal cladding, notably copper or aluminium, in a subtle dialogue between organic matter and industrial modernity. ‘The Japanese public regards Teshigahara’s sculptures as ikebana; perhaps we should regard them as sculptures,’ remarked the famous critic Michel Tapié.
Some of the screens on display bear witness to his exceptional mastery of the calligraphic gesture: large characters unleash their energy to the point of verging on abstraction, transforming the surface into a veritable space for pictorial creation. Teshigahara thus practises calligraphy on a monumental scale, moving through the space he covers with a generous network of lines, much like Pollock walking across the canvas or fabric laid directly on the floor with his gigantic brush. He draws his inspiration from the great themes of the Japanese landscape, from Mount Fuji to vast seascapes, but also appears to be influenced by the Japanese Gutai movement. His gold-ground folding screens are among the most sought-after by collectors.
His ink and watercolour works, meanwhile, reveal a more contemplative and highly gestural sensibility.
This collection of folding screens, sculptures and works on paper thus offers a particularly comprehensive insight into the artistic richness of Sofu Teshigahara, whose work lies at the crossroads of Japanese tradition and the international avant-garde.
His works have been collected by leading figures such as the artist Antoni Tapiès, the critic Michel Tapie, the Palazzo Grassi in Venice, the French Embassy in Japan, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, and numerous public and private collections in Australia, Israel, Italy, the United States and Japan.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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