Flying Celestial, by Sugimoto Kenkichi

  • 20c
  • Hanging scroll, ink on paper
  • H-43.5 W-76
Catalogue Entry

Sugimoto Kenkichi (b. 1905) is from Nagoya. He established himself as a western style painter after studying with Kishida Ryusei. Many of his works deal with themes from the Nara area, and he has also produced numerous sketches from his overseas journeys.

This work was painted as an impromptu sketch upon the occasion of the 1986 opening of the Shinji Shumeikai's guest facilities, the Villa Miho. A male angel holding a scroll caught up in the wind is drawn in long, fluid brushstrokes. Unless handled just right, such a deftly speedy brush can miss the essence of its subject and lapse into a surface affect, but here the strokes convey a sense of fresh brightness, surely an expression of Sugimoto's own character.