1940s After Japanese Portrait of the Patriarch Jion-Daishi, First Edition Full-Color Print

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A stunning rare First Edition full-color print of Japanese Portrait of The Patriarch Jion-Daishi (632-682). Comes from a rare First … Read more A stunning rare First Edition full-color print of Japanese Portrait of The Patriarch Jion-Daishi (632-682). Comes from a rare First Limited Edition art folio published in Geneva, Switzerland, in the 1940s by Albert Skira. Printed on one side of heavy paper. Numbered at the lower right corner: 1. Detailed. Colors are stunning. Excellent condition - minor edge wear, never framed.

Kuei-chi, known in Japan as Jion-daishi, was a Chinese monk highly venerated in the Tang and Sung periods. In Japan, from the tenth century on, homage was paid to his memory each year in a ceremony held in the great temples of the Hosso sect as Nara. This portrait, probably based on a Chinese original, well conveys the spiritual vigor of the great monk, whose attitude suggests that he is engaged in a theological discussion. The sumptuous costume, the pink modeling of the body, and the beautifully decorated ink-stone beside him are characteristic of the Tang tradition, while the harmonious, light-toned colors reflect the Japanese taste of the eleventh century. See less