Kakemono Two Sennin

With flowing beards, loose robes, and lively expressions, two familiar figures of East Asian art appear in this kakemono: two sennin, Daoist immortals who, in both Chinese and Japanese tradition, are regarded as the embodiment of unconventional wisdom and joie de vivre.

One, bald-headed and with a leopard skin over his shoulders, carries a long staff with a gourd; the other, a white-bearded old man in a hood, holds a scroll and turns smiling towards his companion. The expressive faces with their exaggerated expressions and the loose, almost caricature-like brushwork are characteristic of depictions of these figures, who are deliberately shown outside social conventions and courtly etiquette. Their cheerful serenity is emblematic of a wisdom that reveals itself not through form and etiquette, but through the spontaneous recognition of the essential.

Motifs of Daoist immortals were highly popular in Japanese painting, as they offered a refreshingly unacademic counterpoint to austere scholar figures. For collectors of humorous yet philosophically charged subjects, this kakemono is a lively addition.