Toshio Aoki (Japanese-American 1854-1912) 青木年雄（日本/美國 1854-1912）

A Musician and Goddess in a Moonlit Grove
Ink and color on paper, laid on to card, signed in Japanese and English lower left; framed, matted, and glazed, the original frame inscribed in Japanese, which may be loosely translated as “…My soul, heavenly deity's love song... Moonlit grove, a Goddess in brocade…”
H: 22 1/8 in.; W: 14 in.; Frame H: 37 in.; W: 29 ½ in.

Provenance

Thomas Craven, Charlottesville, Virginia
Thence by decent to the present owner

來源：
Thomas Craven舊藏，弗吉尼亞州，夏洛茨維爾市
家族內傳承至現藏家

Lot Essay

Toshio Aoki was one of the earliest known of Japanese artists who worked in California in the late 19th and early 20th century.  Immigrating to the US in the 1880s, after having toured the US with a group of Japanese artisans, he was in San Francisco by 1888, working as an artist with George T. Marsh and Co., importer of Japanese goods.  He developed a following among the upper classes of southern California, particularly in Pasadena.  According to Chelsea Foxwell, “Crossings and Dislocations: Toshio Aoiki (1854-1912), A Japanese Artist in Japan” [https://www.19thc-artworldwide.org/autumn12/foxwell-toshio-aoki-a-japanese-artist-in-california], “In Pasadena, we are told, all the well-heeled vacationers know his studio, and ‘during the season his place is currently bustling' ”. She goes on to discuss his entertaining working methods, painting before his clientele, and that he was known for his droll or grotesque subjects, often meant for children and ladies. He was known not only for his paintings but also for set designs for dramatic events and theater and he hosted annual cherry blossom viewing parties. He also executed commissioned painted and decorated interiors for wealthy patrons. His most compelling works often depicted ethereal female deities and celestial or supernatural beings, works are only now being rediscovered and reassessed.