Lot 1033
More than 60 watercolors of the attacks on Shanghai and Nanjing by the official Japanese artist (三橋武顕) accompanying the invasion army in China
International Orders & Military Collectibles | A83m | Live auction | 577 Lots
Description
More than 60 wartime watercolors of the attacks on Shanghai, Hangzhou and Nanking by Mitsuhasi Takeaki (三橋武顕). Plus two books and 29 postcards in four red-colored envelopes.Mitsuhashi Takeaki (三橋武顕) (1895 - 1974) is a Japanese artist. He was in the Japanese army during the invasion of central and southern China in the late 1930s. He had an independent career in peacetime and these paintings of his war memories were created during his military service in China.
Most paintings are single sheets (27 x 36 cm). Some are larger and there are some folding works that consist of two, three, even four or five sheets. All are in good condition.
Mitsuhashi chose to pass over the human toll – his images are for the most part of post-battle property destruction and the lonely and dangerous vigil of the Japanese troops far from home.
The book "Takeaki's War Memories (武顕戦跡画集)" was published in 1939, two years after the Battle of Shanghai (淞沪会战) and the Nanking massacre (南京大屠殺) - none of which finds any echo in his book, which chooses to show peaceful scenes only.
An interesting and thought-provoking archive based on a subject which definitely still reverberates today.
Condition: II + Questions about the lot?
