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Dancing in the Flames (Important Cultural Property)

Gyoshū Hayami1925

Yamatane Museum of Art

Yamatane Museum of Art
Tokyo , Japan

In the summer of 1925, Gyoshû and his family spent three months in Karuizawa. Every night there were bonfires, and Gyoshû would watch the moths attracted by the flames. His carefully sketched images of the moths remain today. While he painted each of the moths from face on, through the blurring of the backs of their wings he succeeded in creating an image of dancing moths. The expression of the flames traces back to the flame depiction seen in Buddhist paintings and handscrolls, but his depiction of the tips of the flames as coiling forms is based on his observation of actual flames. The deep darkness of the background, of which he himself said, "If asked to paint it again, it is a color I could not achieve a second time," is clearly a subtle tone that he achieved after much trial and error. For Gyoshû this work was a fusion of classical style and actual observation, all melded in a higher dimension, and thus representative of the Taishô period's trends and awareness of realism and symbolism.

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  • Title: Dancing in the Flames (Important Cultural Property)
  • Creator Lifespan: 1894 - 1935
  • Creator Nationality: Japan
  • Creator Gender: Male
  • Date Created: 1925
  • Location Created: Tokyo, Japan
  • 材質・技法(日本語): 絹本・彩色・額(1面)
  • 作家名(日本語): 速水御舟
  • 作品名(日本語): 炎舞【重要文化財】
  • Physical Dimensions: w538 x h1203 mm
  • Painter: Hayami Gyoshū
  • Type: Nihonga (Modern Japanese Paintings)
  • Rights: Yamatane Museum of Art, Japan, © Yamatane Museum of Art, 2013
  • Medium: Color on Silk
Yamatane Museum of Art

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