Here
is an excellent ink wash by sometsuke master and Ningen Kokuho; Kondo Yuzo.
Though painted in black and white and not blue and white, this simple and
easily recognizable thistle design is along with persimmons and sharp mountain
landscapes a trademark design of Kondo Yuzo. As mentioned these designs are usually
portrayed in deep, vivid cobalt with faint washes of blue to even grey tones
with the additions of red and gold depending on the piece. Known as the
Japanese thistle, cirsium japonicum, this particular plant caught the attention
of Kondo early on and can be seen on many of his works throughout his long and
illustrious career as one of the finest sometsuke artists of the 20th century.
Beyond his initial family and students, the influence of the stylistic
renderings that Kondo Yuzo is so well know for has influenced both potter and
painters alike during his lifetime and well beyond.
"The
thistle is a prince. Let any man who has an eye for beauty take a view of the
whole plant, and where will he see more expressive grace and symmetry; and
where is there a more kingly flower?" Henry Ward Beecher
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