Artwork Description

Title: Peach of Mount Kunlun 2
Artist: Keiko Moriuchi
Date: 2018
Medium: Mixed media on canvas
Dimensions: 35.8 x 28.6 in (91 x 72.7 cm)

1. Artwork Identification
Peach of Mount Kunlun 2 is a vibrant mixed media composition by Keiko Moriuchi, created in 2018. The work features a constellation of concentric floral spirals—rendered in vivid hues of pink, red, violet, and gold—dispersed rhythmically across a textured green field. The background is flecked with gilded fragments that shimmer beneath the lacquer-like surface, creating a sense of spatial depth. Framed by layered borders in yellow and violet impasto, the painting exudes both playfulness and ritualized formality.

2. Artistic Style and Influences
Moriuchi’s use of symbolic repetition, chromatic intensity, and textured surface aligns with the ethos of Gutai while embracing a more meditative, decorative sensibility. The peach forms, evoking both celestial bodies and blossoms, are suspended like sacred emblems in a green cosmic garden. The work speaks to Eastern traditions of botanical symbolism—especially the mythical peach of immortality from the Chinese legend of Mount Kunlun—while simultaneously engaging with Western abstraction and the optical energies of postwar painting.

3. Historical Context
As a longtime participant in the Gutai Art Association, Moriuchi's practice was deeply shaped by the experimental spirit of the Japanese avant-garde. After studying under Jiro Yoshihara and later moving to New York in the 1960s, she became part of a transnational dialogue between Asian material practices and American minimalism. By the time of this 2018 work, Moriuchi had distilled decades of aesthetic inquiry into a signature mode that fused tactile experimentation, spiritual symbolism, and formal exuberance—an approach clearly present in Peach of Mount Kunlun 2.

4. Provenance
Provenance documentation can be provided upon contact.

5. Condition and Conservation
The artwork is in very good condition. The canvas is structurally sound, and the surface is free of any losses, abrasions, or discoloration. The impasto and metallic elements are well preserved, and no conservation measures are currently needed.

6. Artistic Significance
Peach of Mount Kunlun 2 captures the essence of Moriuchi’s late-period exploration of mythic symbolism through a language of abstraction and ornamentation. The recurring peach motif acts as both visual anchor and conceptual thread, weaving together themes of eternity, growth, and the divine. As part of a significant series, this work highlights Moriuchi’s capacity to merge the playful with the profound, offering collectors a vibrant and contemplative example of contemporary East Asian abstraction.