untitled (homage to Dancing in the Flames by Hayami Gyoshū)

Jimmy Tsutomu Mirikitani, artist

1920–2012

untitled (homage to Dancing in the Flames by Hayami Gyoshū), circa 2002

Where object was made: United States

Material/technique: drawing; ballpoint pen; colored pencil; paper

Dimensions:
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 71 x 50.6 cm
Mat Dimensions (Height x Width): 91.44 x 76.2 cm

Credit line: Collection of Linda Hattendorf, Taos, New Mexico

Accession number: EL2024.156

On display: Perkins Central Court

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Street Nihonga: The Art of Jimmy Tsutomu Mirikitani

A highly stylized, swirling flame is one of Mirikitani’s signature motifs. This form was inspired by the painting Enbu (Dancing in the Flames, 1925) by Nihonga artist Hayami Gyoshū 速水御舟 (1894–1935), an acclaimed work that is now designated as Important Cultural Property and that features a formalized flame motif derived from Buddhist paintings.

Admiring Gyoshū, Mirikitani created a series of works featuring swirling flames combined with other motifs, including the one shown here. These two paintings are specifically dedicated to Gyoshū, each bearing an inscription on the back commemorating his death at age 45. The flame motif also appears in Mirikitani’s works about the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and the attacks on 9/11, underscoring its importance as both an artistic lineage and a symbol of creation and destruction on view in the Multiple Ground Zeros section.