Ikkū - “One Emptiness” - Water Lilies and Verse - double sided vintage Japanese painting on shikishi

Double sided vintage Japanese work on shikishi from the postwar Shōwa period by Ikkū, with water lilies on the front and a calligraphic poetic inscription on the reverse.

The front bears the artist’s red seal. The reverse includes a calligraphic inscription, the signature Ikkū, and red artist seals.

The inscription on the reverse may be translated as: “Fine rain sprinkles the flowers with a thousand drops of tears; pale mist encloses the bamboo in a single mass of sorrow.”

Ikkū appears to have been a Japanese painter and calligrapher of the postwar Shōwa period, working under an art name. His works are uncommon, but signed and sealed shikishi by this name form a recognizable group of small-format paintings and calligraphy.

The art name Ikkū may be understood as “One Emptiness”: it combines “one” with kū, a Buddhist term for emptiness, or śūnyatā.

Ikkū’s works are characterized by restraint: the simple shikishi format, minimal decorative effect, and attention to the meaning of image, inscription, and seals. This modesty of material and form is close to the aesthetics of wabi-sabi.

Size

Approximately 24 × 27 cm

Condition

Vintage condition. Age-related toning, scattered spots, and minor traces of storage on the surface and edges.

Please examine the photographs of both sides carefully, as they form part of the condition description.

Shipping

Safe and tracked shipping from Latvia (Riga Gallery of Japanese Art CloudyYokomido). Protective packaging.

For US buyers: US customs processing is prepaid through the shipping service, so no additional customs processing payment is required upon delivery.