2013.64: Wind God

Identification and Creation

Object Number

2013.64

People

Kobayashi Eitaku, Japanese (Edo 1843 - 1890)

Title

Wind God

Classification

Paintings

Work Type

hanging scroll, painting

Date

Late 19th century

Places

Creation Place: East Asia, Japan

Period

Meiji era, 1868-1912

Culture

Japanese

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/211654

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Hanging scroll; ink and slight color on paper; with artist's signature and seal

Dimensions

painting proper: H. 128.7 x W. 55 cm (50 11/16 x 21 5/8 in.)
mounting, inlcuding suspension core and roller ends: H. 206.4 x W. 78.6 cm (81 1/4 x 30 15/16 in.)

Inscriptions and Marks

• inscription: lower left corner: artist's signature reading: Sensai Eitaku
• seal: lower left corner, following artist's signature: artist's seal

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History

Louis V. Ledoux Collection, New York (by 1948), by descent; to his son L. Pierre Ledoux, New York (1948-2001), by inheritance; to his widow Joan F. Ledoux, New York, (2001-2013), gift; to Harvard Art Museums, 2013.

Footnotes:
1. Louis V. Ledoux (1880-1948)
2. L. Pierre Ledoux (1912-2001)
3. On long term loan to Harvard Art Museums from 1981 to 2013.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, The Louis V. Ledoux Collection; Gift of Mrs. L. Pierre Ledoux in memory of her husband

Accession Year

2013

Object Number

2013.64

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Permissions

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Descriptions

Description

Painted primarily in ink and ink wash on paper, this hanging scroll presents the Wind God Fūjin, a demon-like spirit who carries the wind in a large sack. In this whimsical rendering, a horned Wind God with bulging eyes and beastly talons is forcefully propelled backwards as he releases the wind from his enormous bag, the voluminous sack creating a round, moon-like expanse of white behind him. Graded ink washes around the figure suggest clouds, and a touch of red pigment on the mouth adds a note of ferocity to this otherwise playful depiction. The signature and seal of artist Kobayashi Eitaku (1843-1890) appear at the lower left corner of the composition.

Exhibition History

• East Asia in the Nineteenth Century, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 03/05/1994 - 08/21/1994
• Tradition and Synthesis: 19th- and 20th-Century Works from East Asia, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 09/22/2001 - 06/09/2002

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