Japanese Paintings and Works of ArtErik Thomsen 2010

2

Table of contents

3

5

49

79

91

102

110

120

126

Foreword and Acknowledgements

Screens

Paintings

Bamboo Baskets

Lacquers

Signatures, Seals and Inscriptions

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Japanese Paintings and Works of Art

3

Foreword and Acknowledgements

This publication, our fifth catalog in the series

Japanese Paintings and Works of Art, coincides with

two other events: our move to a larger gallery

location in New York and our inaugural exhibition

there, Screens and Scrolls of the Taishō Period.

The new gallery at 67th Street between Fifth and

Madison Avenues is a purpose-built space in a newly

renovated townhouse. With double the wall space

of the previous location, it provides ample room for

showing large pairs of screens and paintings.

Our inaugural exhibition at the new location, Screens

and Scrolls of the Taishō Period, features paintings

from the Taishō Era (1912 – 26). While short in dura-

tion, the Taishō Period was highly influential and

witnessed a remarkable flowering of the arts. It was

also a period of great wealth, and all types of art

were eagerly sought by new collectors. Visionary

young artists were sometimes sponsored by

wealthy patrons, who could afford to support the

artist while he or she worked on a single painting

or work of art for a whole year or longer. The goal

of the artists and their sponsors was to exhibit

a striking work of art at one of the annual national

art exhibitions that had been sponsored by the

Japanese government and other organizations

since 1907. Artists hoped to make a reputation for

excellence through the exhibition, the critical at-

tention, and a possible prize winning of their works

at these prestigious venues. An example of such

a work which won a prize at the 8th Teiten National

Exhibition is the screen entitled Morning Quiet in

the current publication (item 7).

The catalog also features screens and scrolls of ear-

lier periods; exquisite maki-e gold lacquer boxes;

and a selection of Taishō/early Shōwa-period bam-

boo baskets made for the sadō or kadō, the tea

ceremony or ikebana. I hope the viewer will enjoy

looking at and reading about the 30 paintings and

works of art we selected, spanning four centuries.

I wish to thank our Frankfurt designer and photog-

rapher, Valentin Beinroth and Cem Yücetas, with-

out whom this catalog and our earlier publications

would not have been possible. Above all I wish

to thank my wife, Cornelia. It is only thanks to her

strong partnership, encouragement and support

that our move to New York four years ago and the

establishment of our gallery since then has been

possible.

Erik Thomsen

New York, September 2010

Screens

6 7

1

Kano School 狩野派Roosters and Chicken in a Bamboo Grove

Edo Period (1615 –1868), early 17th C

H 64 ¾" × W 133 ½"

(164.5 cm × 339 cm) each

Pair of six-panel folding screens

Ink, colors, gofun, gold and gold leaf on paper

From the fourth century onwards, the Chinese de-

picted sages in bamboo groves, in seclusion from

the world and in lofty conversation with each other.1

This tradition later transferred to Korea and Japan,

where the theme, Chikurin no shichiken 竹林の七賢,

became one of the traditional expressions of paint-

ers, for example of the Kano school, who painted it

widely on scrolls, screens and sliding doors.2

In this painting we see the same theme of a gather-

ing in a bamboo grove, yet here we have a play on

the genre, with roosters and hens taking the place

of learned sages. And instead of lofty conversation,

we have hens clucking to one another and to their

offspring. While the parody of traditional themes

was not unusual—painters such as Harunobu placed

courtesans in place of the sages in their versions

of the bamboo grove—the depiction of chickens as

sages is rare.

The paintings also have a seasonal element, as the

artist has divided the screen pair into images of

spring and autumn. The right half shows the spring

with newborn chicks, new bamboo sprouts and

flowering Chinese clematis (Tessen 鉄銑, Clematis

florida), a plant blooming in late April. In contrast,

the left half shows the autumn with the chicks

fully grown, the bamboo mature and, instead of

clematis, ivy with autumn colors. The artist contrasts

spring and fall, the newborn and the adult, begin-

nings and maturity.

The screens have an intricate and finely crafted

band along the top with gilt moriage patterns.

This moriage was built up with layers of gofun (sea

shell powder) and then painted with gold wash,

a phenomenon appearing in 17th century screens.3

The moriage consists of round family crests (mon)

on a diamond pattern. Interestingly, the gilt and

chased copper hardware on the screen frame in-

corporates the same family crest design and can

therefore assumed to be the original 17th cen-

tury hardware. Further use of moriage relief can

be seen in the three-dimensional modeling on the

cockscombs and on the legs. The overall effect is

that of luxury, privilege and expense, an effect un-

derlined by the heavy use of costly mineral colors.

The screens were most likely created for the year of

the rooster by a leading sponsor of the arts, pos-

sibly by a member of the aristocracy or a daimyo

warlord.

12 13

2

Tosa Mitsuyoshi 土佐光吉 (1539 –1613), attr.

Scenes from the Tales of Genji

Momoyama Period (1568 –1615), early 17th C

H 63 ½" × W 146 ½"

(161.3 cm × 372.3 cm)

Six-panel folding screen

Ink, mineral colors, gofun, silver, gold

and gold leaf on paper

This important screen displays an elaborate sel-

ection of scenes from the eleventh-century novel

Tales of Genji. The finely detailed figures inter-

spersed throughout the composition illustrate

scenes from different chapters of Genji, but are

unified by the theme of nature, more specifically,

the link between nature and the protagonists of

the novel. Two keys to the connections are the full

moon on the upper left and the bridge on the

upper right of the screen.

The full moon on the upper left refers to the ro-

mantic boat scene on a winter night in the Ukifune

chapter, seen in the upper center. Here Niou is

seated in the boat with Ukifune and, while looking

at the hills bathed in moon light, they pledge

undying love to each other.1

In the Asagao chapter the moon appears again as

Genji and Asagao look out at the garden on a win-

ter night and admire the fallen snow. Genji asks the

page girls to go out in the garden and roll a snow-

ball, and he and Asagao enjoy the scene bathed in

moonlight.2

The moon connects these two scenes, which also

share the same season and the nocturnal setting.

Central to both cases is the joy of love when look-

ing at nature together, specifically on a winter night.

The bridge in the upper right corner refers to the

Ukifune love boat scene, which takes place close

to Uji Bridge.3 The bridge is also associated with the

excursion to Sumiyoshi Shrine in the Miotsukushi

chapter, seen on the right. Waiting inside his carriage,

Genji wants to write a love letter and his servant

Koremitsu hands him a writing box and brushes.4

The curved bridge on the screen refers to both

scenes, the Uji Bridge and the Sumiyoshi Bridge;

the red torii gate in front of the bridge refers to

the Sumiyoshi Shrine. Bridges with their many po-

etic allusions became symbols for travel in nature

in the literal and visual culture of the Heian and

later period.5

The last two scenes that balance the composition

on the bottom left and right corners are, on the

bottom left, the emperor being presented with

pheasants taken in a hunt, bringing nature to the

palace;6 and, on the bottom right, the poignant

scene from the Yomogiu chapter where Prince

Genji visits his long-lost love, the Safflower Prin-

cess, who suffers from poverty in a run-down man-

sion. Here Prince Genji is led by his servant Kore-

mitsu, who guides him to the dilapidated house

through the overgrown garden.7

In all of these scenes, we see how the figures nego-

tiate with nature and how nature relates to love,

to imperial offerings, to travel and even to poverty.

What at first seems to be a set of non-connected

scenes are in fact expertly selected moments in the

novel that connect by themes from across the pan-

els of the screen.

The screen is attributed to Tosa Mitsuyoshi through

similarities in style, facial features, and golden

clouds. The golden clouds are made of two types

of gold—gold leaf bordered with gold wash on

gofun—and the features of the faces are superbly

expressive. Mitsuyoshi and his atelier painted a

number of Genji screens during his lifetime and

examples by him exist in the Metropolitan Museum

of Art in New York, the Honolulu Academy of Arts,

the Kyoto National Museum and the Idemitsu

Museum of Art.

16 17

3

Scenes from the Great Eastern RoadUnknown artist

Edo Period (1615 –1868), circa 1800

H 49 ¾" × W 117 ½"

(126.5 cm × 298.5 cm) each

Pair of six-panel folding screens

Ink, mineral colors, gofun, gold flakes

and gold leaf on paper

This pair of screens presents the viewer with an ex-

citing journey through the imagination, without the

hardship of actually traveling. We see here in great

detail the most important road in Japan, the Great

Eastern Road Tōkaidō, which connected the old

and the new capital cities of Japan. Not only are the

cities and sites along the road depicted, but the

artist has also added interesting events, such as pro-

cessions of daimyo warlords, street side shops,

and sea travel.

The route is not a straight one, but one bending

and turning along the mountains and streams. In

effect, the route is recreating travel with all its unex-

pected twists and turns. As Constantine Vaporis re-

counts in his classic book on Edo-period travel, the

idea of travel became a nation-wide fad from the

mid-Edo period onwards, and people would take

long trips in groups or individually, enjoying the

sites along the way.1 This screen was very likely cre-

ated in response to the demand for objects related

to travel, perhaps in commission for a patron who

had traveled the route himself.

From the seventeenth century onwards, Japanese

artists created woodblock prints, hand scroll paint-

ings, screens and books on the topic of travel

along the Tōkaidō Road. In their images the artists

provided not only information about the sites, but

also placed the road in the contexts of the famous

views of Japan, Meisho, that could be seen along

the way. In this sumptuous pair of screens, we not

only get a sense of the long and often arduous

route of the Tōkaidō, but also see the splendid

sites along the way. Artists of the time emphasized

different aspects of the road; in this case, the

emphasis is clearly on the remarkable castles and

mountains—the greatest feats of man and nature.

In contrast, the cities are here presented as an as-

sembly of simple one-story buildings—even Edo,

the capital city.

The road became an important topic in the culture

of mid- to late-Edo period Japan. Not only were

famous artists, such as Utamaro, Hiroshige, and

Hokusai making print series with connections to

the Tōkaidō Road, but literature and Kabuki drama

also became obsessed with the idea of travel. The

comic novel Hizakurige, for example, centers on

the adventures of two protagonists as they travel

down the Tōkaidō.2 An important multi-volume

publication in 1797, the Tōkaidō meisho zue, be-

came a source for later artists, such as Hiroshige,

who found compositional ideas in the volumes.

And of course, the most famous of all these artistic

efforts was Hiroshige’s great series of woodblock

prints, the Fifty-Three Stages of the Tōkaidō,

published in 1833 – 34, which came to influence

all efforts afterwards. This pair of screens shows

no specific traces of Hiroshige’s work, but relates

instead to other earlier sources.3

Interestingly, some of the sites named on small

labels along the road are not on the Tōkaidō.

These sites include mountains and large castles

(Mount Hiei and Zeze Castle) as well as parts

from other views series, such as the Eight Views

of Ōmi (Karasaki and Miidera) and the famous

views of Edo (Shiba Daibutsu).4 It seems that the

names are taken from a conflation of sources:

from the Tōkaidō, from famous view series, and

from important sites that can be seen from the

road.5 They all have in common the sense of travel

within the imagination, experiencing all the plea-

sures and serendipitous discoveries of travel while

in the comforts of one’s own home.

22 23

4

Araki Kampo 荒木寛畆 (1831–1915)

Peacock Pair by Cliffs

Meiji period (1868 –1912), dated 1907

H 76 ¾" × W 75 ¾"

(195 cm × 192.4 cm)

Two-panel folding screen

Ink, colors, gold and gold-leaf on silk

Signature:

Kampo 寛畆

Seals:

1) »Seventy-seven year old Kampo« 七十七翁寛畆

2) »Artist name Tatsuan« 號達庵

A majestic peacock stands on top of a craggy cliff

and surveys the world around him, while his mate

walks below, in the safety of his alert gaze. The

painting was made by one of the great artists of

modernizing Japan at the age of seventy-seven.

Despite his advanced age, we sense the strength

of the artist in the dramatic brushstrokes, the clear

sense of composition, and the finely delineated

techniques. Just like the male peacock, he still very

much rules his corner of the world.

The sumptuousness and vitality of the peacock are

reflected in the rich gold-leaf ground and in the

fine details Kampo added with gold wash on top

of the ink. He also added light colors to give depth

to the plumage of the birds and drew the rocks

and the bamboo with an array of textured strokes

and ink wash techniques. In all these aspects, the

painter goes back to a long tradition of peacock

paintings on gold ground, such as those created

by the Maruyama and Kishi Schools.1

Kampo was born in Edo and started to work at an

early age as apprentice for the Araki workshop,

where he showed early promise. He was eventually

adopted into the Araki family at the age of twenty-

two and became its head painter. At one time he

attempted oil paintings, but eventually returned to

the Nihonga school style. Kampo specialized in

paintings of flowers and birds. He unified the vari-

ous styles and introduced new influences and tech-

niques from the West, and taught a generation of

young artists, becoming an important pioneer of the

new age of painting in Meiji Japan.

Remarkably, Kampo had extensive success outside

of Japan and became one of the most famous

Japanese artists in the West. He entered works and

won numerous prizes at international expositions,

such as Vienna in 1872, Chicago in 1893, Paris in

1900, St. Louis in 1904, and London in 1910. He

was also the first Japanese artist to become a

member of the prestigious Royal Society of Arts in

London. Inside Japan, he was very active in na-

tional exhibitions and won numerous honors.2 He

taught at the Tokyo Art School from 1898 to 1908

and at other universities as well. The present screen

stems from the time he was teaching at the Tokyo

Art School.

26 27

5

Usumi Kiho 内海輝邦 (b. 1873)

The Raven and the Peacock

Taishō Period (1912 – 26), circa 1920

H 69" × W 136 ¼"

(175 cm × 346 cm) each

Pair of six-panel folding screens

Ink, mineral colors, gofun, gold, silver,

lacquer and silver leaf on paper

Signature: Kihō 輝邦, Seal: Hiroaki 廣精

The artist presents the viewer with a remarkable

composition of a raven and a peacock in conversa-

tion across two large six-panel screens. The posi-

tioning of the two birds at first startles through the

strong contrasts: the smaller jet-black raven on

the right and the large proud peacock with its full

show of polychrome feathers on the left.

What exactly was the intent of the artist in this strik-

ing juxtaposition? He may have intended to show

the animals as an episode from Aesop’s fable, the

story of the crow and the peacock. The narrative,

however, remains unclear: did the covetous crow

attempt to steal a feather and dropped it, dis-

covered by the angry peacock? Or is the peacock

bragging, showing off its rich display, while the

raven is looking on in envy? Although the message

is uncertain, the dramatic dialogue is clear. A key

aspect of this dialogue is of course the contrast

between the large colorful bird and the seemingly—

until examined closer—drab black bird.

The screen is remarkable for another reason, its

tour-de-force display of materials and techniques.

Usumi painted the silver-leaf surface with luxuri-

ous materials, including gold, silver, lacquer and

ground malachite, lapis lazuli and gofun. The

peacock is composed with a densely inter-woven

texture of feathers imbedded with thick layers of

gold and mineral colors, including malachite and

lapis lazuli. The bright eye is painted with gold,

the beak with silver, and the head and body are

molded with relief details using gofun. The drab-

looking raven is in fact sumptuously created, with

its black feathers covered with powders of lapis

lazuli, its legs highlighted in lacquer, and its eyes

with gold. The face of the raven is finely modeled

with masterfully modulated ink wash on its beak,

giving a three-dimensional effect. The heavy use

of expensive mineral colors indicates that Usumi

made the screen pair for an important occasion,

possibly a national art exhibition.

Usumi Kihō was a skilled painter of great promise.

He was born in Matsue in Shimane Prefecture

by the Japan Sea in 1873 and managed to gain

acceptance to the highly competitive Tokyo Art

School, presently the Tokyo University of the Arts,

at a key time in its history. The university had been

founded a few years earlier and was run by the

great artist Hashimoto Gahō 橋本雅邦 (1835 –1908).

Kihō became a student of Gahō1 and learned in

the company of a select group of the future great

artists of Japan. A list of his fellow students at the

time reads like a who’s who of the great Taishō and

Shōwa period artists: Yokoyama Taikan 横山大観,

Shimomura Kanzan 下村寒山, Hishida Shunsō 菱田春草, Kawai Gyokudō 川合玉堂, among others.

During his years at the Tokyo Art School Kihō cre-

ated three works that were thought important

enough to store at the university museum.2 Upon

graduation in 1893, Kihō accepted a position at

the Fukushima Middle School in Fukushima Prefec-

ture, teaching art. Among his colleagues at the

school was the great scholar Tsunoda Ryūsaku 角田柳作 (1877 –1964), who eventually became known

as the "father of Japanese studies" at Columbia Uni-

versity3 During their time there together (Ryūsaku

taught at the school 1903 – 8), the two collaborated

on projects.

We see traces of Usumi’s activities through the 1910s

and 1920s of the Taishō period, when he moved

back to Tokyo and became an established artist in

the capital city.4 The present work stems from his

period of activity in Tokyo.

32 33

6

Hirai Baisen 平井楳仙 (1889 –1969)

Chinese Landscape with Pagoda

Taishō Period (1912 – 26), 1925

H 68" × W 74 ¾"

(173 cm × 189.7 cm)

Two-panel folding screen

Ink and colors on paper

Signature: Baisen 楳仙

Seal: »Painted by Hirai Baisen« 比羅居白仙画

A series of perpendicular cliffs, precipitous gorges

and towering temple pagodas gives this remark-

able landscape painting a sense of peril and exoti-

cism. The setting is not Japan: this painting stems

from Hirai Baisen’s Chinese phase, a period that he

entered after his travel to China in 1913. Here is a

painting with rough strokes of ink on paper in the

old tradition of depicting Chinese scenes, a tradi-

tion that goes back to Sesshū (1420 –1506).

We see the artist’s great skill in his use of ink. Not

only does he use ink in many modalities, varying

from intense black to faint grey, but he also varies

the wetness of the brush, creating a misty feel to

the vegetation, as some sections are vague while

others are in sharp focus, lending to an atmosphere

of misty mountain peaks. We also see a great

variety in brush patterns, with some brushes rough

and hard-bristled; Baisen uses these repeatedly

to get a sense of wild vegetation on the cliff sides.

Another indication of his love for experimentation

can be found in the special paper he used for this

work: both sides of the screen are painted on a

single large, custom-made sheet of paper, which

is unusual for this scale of work.

Baisen has used colors sparingly with careful

deliberation. To the landscape he added a well-

balanced, faint application of red-brown colors.

These colors impart an autumnal feel to the scene

and at the same time create a color palette that

is exotic—it is after all not a scene from Japan, but

one from a foreign, yet familiar, culture that Baisen

portrays. The light blue color used in one spot, on

the coat edge of the single Chinese traveler, adds

an exotic touch.

A number of other examples exist from the artist’s

period of intense immersion into Chinese expres-

siveness. For example, a pair of six-panel screens

in the Honolulu Academy of Arts displays the same

kind of composition and textual strokes.1 Here, too,

we see a towering pagoda in the distance over ra-

vines and a precipitous landscape. What differenti-

ates the two works from each other is that the Ho-

nolulu screens are solely expressed in ink, whereas

in the present work we see his experiment with col-

ors and a more complex composition.

The screen was created in 1925 when Baisen was

preparing a series of screens with ink paintings

of Chinese landscapes for the sixth Teiten exhibi-

tion of 1925. Two other sets of the screens created

during this burst of energy have recently been

published.2

Baisen is a painter of many styles who succeeds in

surprising at every turn.3 A look at another painting

by him in this publication item15, (a snow scene

of the Kamogawa River dated to 1917) shows how

greatly his style changed over a few years. Constant

is his technical excellence and his fascination with

various materials and tools: the brushes, the paints,

and the surfaces. We see him forever experiment-

ing with new ideas. He was clearly an intellectual

painter at the cutting edge of the twentieth-century

Nihonga movements during his early years.4 The

screens are a testament to the genius of Baisen as

he revisits the iconic masterpieces of the past and

successfully reworks them into a new vocabulary of

his own.

36 37

7

Nakatsuka Issan 中塚一杉 (b. 1892)

Morning Quiet あさしづ

Shōwa Period (1926 – 89), 1927

H 70 ½" × W 90"

(179.3 cm × 228.6 cm)

Two-panel folding screen

Ink, colors and gofun on silk

Signature: Issan ga 一杉画 »Painted by Issan«

Seal: Nakatsuka 中塚

Exhibited: The 8th Teiten National Exhibition, 1927

Published: Nittenshi 日展史, vol 8, p. 117, nr. 181.

The artist Issan presents us with an intimate scene

of a small vegetable garden in the early morning

quiet. It is early morning in summer, the lower part

of the painting still dark and soft light and blue

sky starting to appear above.

We see a number of plants and vegetables in a

composition of compressed rows. In the front are

flowering garden balsam (Hōsenka 鳳仙花) and

three pepper plants (Shishitōgarashi 獅子唐辛子).

In the next row are four eggplants (Nasu 茄子),

followed by a row of cucumber plants (Kyūri 胡瓜).

In the far background are the ink outlines of young

bamboo plants. The various plants with their differ-

ent colors, leaves, fruits and flowers interweave on

the painting surface, creating a densely interrelated

idyllic vision. A hint of humor can be seen with the

patch of weeds in the front right and with the morn-

ing glory on the far right which comes out to greet

the artist’s signature.

Looking closer, one notices four insects hidden

among the leaves: a praying mantis, a dragonfly

and two grasshoppers. The artist also chose to

show natural decay in the work: many leaves are

insect-bitten, and a fallen-down cucumber and sev-

eral leaves are in various stages of decomposition.

This undertone of decay and death is contrasted

by the vitality of the strong colors of eggplants and

their leaves.

Issan uses special effects, such as gofun, a white

powder made from sea shells, which he applied

below the paint on the cucumbers to give them

moriage three-dimensional effects. Throughout the

painting, the line is always under control; the drag-

onfly balanced on the cucumber leaf, for example, is

drawn in a poetry of ink lines.

The work is a remarkable achievement for the

young artist and was the first of his to be accepted

for a national exhibition, the 8th Teiten Exhibition

in Shōwa 2 1927, shown under the title あさしづ or

Morning Quiet and illustrated in the accompany-

ing catalog.1 Born in 1892, Issan studied under two

giants in the Kyoto art world of the time: Takeuchi

Seihō 竹内栖鳳 (1864 –1942) and Nishimura Goun

西村五雲 (1877 –1938).2 After his apprenticeship,

he settled in the Shimogamo area of Kyoto and ex-

hibited at a number of prestigious national exhibi-

tions: he entered works in five Teiten exhibitions,

three Shin-Bunten exhibitions, one Nitten exhibition,

among others.3 The last trace we have of the painter

is his entry in the ninth Nitten exhibition of 1953.

Interestingly, Issan must have been fond of the veg-

etable garden theme, as he returned to it ten years

later in a work labeled »Vegetable Garden in Early

Autumn« 菜園初秋 for his entry into the first Shin-

Bunten exhibition of 1937. The famous cultural figure

Oguma Hideo 小熊秀雄 (1901– 40) saw this work

at the exhibition and wrote the following praise

about Issan’s screen:4 »An outstanding characteris-

tic of present-day Nihonga painting is the ability to

draw an inherently complex image of a vegetable

garden clearly without any confusion.« The skill

that was apparent in Issan’s later work of 1937 is

certainly also clear in this superb screen that Issan

painted ten years earlier.

40 41

8

Nakatsuka Issan 中塚一杉 (b. 1892)

Flowering Yamabuki

Shōwa Period (1926 – 89), circa 1930

H 78 ¼" × W 82"

(199 cm × 208 cm)

Two-panel folding screen

Ink, colors and gofun on silk

Signature: Issan saku 一杉 作 »Made by Issan«

Seal: Nakatsuka 中塚

As with the other screen by Issan in the present

catalog, the previous entry entitled »Morning

Quiet«, we see here a close observation of nature

within an intimate garden setting.

The artist presents the viewer with a scene from

spring, from a warm sunny day in the second half

of April. Dominating the scene over most of the

painted surface is a Japanese Yellow Rose (Yama-

buki 山吹 Kerria japonica) which flowers in majestic

beauty by an old bamboo fence. Meanwhile to the

right a white Japanese peony (Yama Shakuyaku

山芍薬 Paeonia japonica) blooms and below it,

through a crack in the fence, we see another white

flowering plant. In the upper corners is a flowering

maple tree. Standing above the central Yamabuki

is a tall cherry tree, now past its point of glory with

its few remaining petals and many new leaves.

On the bottom left from the ground the artist has

depicted a winding ivy climbing up the broken

fence. In the middle of this maze of blossoms

and leaves sits a solitary Lidth’s Jay (Ruri Kakesu

瑠璃懸巣 Garrulus lidthi), its blue feathers form-

ing a focal point and contrast to the yellows and

greens of the painting.

As with Issan’s other work »Morning Quiet«, we

see here a tension between youth and decay,

between the vibrant yellow colors of the brilliant

Yamabuki on the one hand and the deteriorating,

stained old bamboo fence on the other. The fallen

petals and wilting leaves on the ground also serve

as a contrast to the blooming Yamabuki above.

Much time, expertise and expense went into creating

this work, and judging from its over-sized format, it

was most likely a shuppin-saku, made to be exhibit-

ed at one of the major art exhibitions of the time. In

the complex composition we see exquisite details

in the fine lines on the flowers and bamboo fence,

and in the raised moriage areas on the yellow rose,

the peony flowers, and the cherry blossoms, which

were created with gofun or seashell powder. The

bark of the cherry tree is especially remarkable for

its three-dimensional feel and realistic moriage tex-

ture. The mounts are custom-made for the screen,

using luxurious shibuichi1 metal with a perforated

sukashi design of cherry petals.

Issan studied under two of the greatest draftsmen in

the history of the modern Kyoto art world: Takeuchi

Seihō 竹内栖鳳 (1864 –1942) and Nishimura Goun

西村五雲 (1877 –1938). After his studies he settled

in Kyoto as an independent artist and submitted reg-

ularly to the important national exhibitions over the

next decades, the last being the Nitten in 1953.2

44 45

9

Soju 双樹 (ac. Taishō Period)

Sea Gulls by the Seashore

Taishō Period (1912 – 26), 1920s

H 69 ¼" × W 68 ¾"

(175.8 cm × 174.8 cm)

Two-panel folding screen

Ink, colors, gofun and silver on paper.

Signature: Sōju 双樹Seal:Sō 双

In this striking composition, we see two seagulls

on the seashore, seemingly overwhelmed by the

incoming waves. The painting is a fascinating study

of movement and patterns that spread across its

surface.

Not only is the screen remarkable for its daring

composition, but also for its display of technical

ability. For one thing, this painting is a masterpiece

in the use of gofun, or seashell powder. Although

gofun has been used by Japanese artists for centu-

ries, its use rarely reaches the level of technical

perfection seen in this screen. We can see extensive

use of gofun on the waves and on the bodies of

the gulls, which thereby achieve a tactile three-

dimensional feel. Detailed use of the material can

be seen on the seagull at the back, for example,

where a wave of white gofun faintly washes over

its left foot.

Another technical element is the sophisticated use

of sprinkled silver flakes, which can be seen not

only on the beach, simulating the wet sand sparkling

in the sunlight, but also under the layers of gofun-

waves, where it mimics reflecting sand under water.

The artist has also darkened the rim of sand directly

bordering the incoming waves, cleverly giving an

impression of water-logged sand.

As for the artist, research still remains to be done.

Little is known, beyond the evidence of the screen

itself. Judging from the style, we know that it must

have been a Nihonga artist with great talent. And

judging from similar objects, we can say that the

screen dates from the innovative period of the

early 1920s. The Taishō period was noted for a

great flowering of the arts, with a proliferation of

art schools and the education of great many skilled

students. Unfortunately for them (and for us) the

period was also known for its great disasters: the

Kantō Earthquake of 1923, the global economic

crash of 1929 and the resulting depression that

changed the future for a number of promising

artists in a decidedly negative way, sometimes with

catastrophic effect.1 Much research remains to be

done about artists of this period, including the iden-

tity and biography of the artist who created this

masterpiece.

Paintings

50

10

Hakuin Ekaku 白隠慧鶴 (1685 –1768)

The Second Patriarch Standing in the Snow

Edo period (1615 –1868), circa 1725

H 32 ¼" × W 11¼" (incl. mounting 65" × 15 ¾")

(82 cm × 28.3 cm, 165 cm × 40 cm)

Hanging scroll, ink on paper

Inscription:

二祖昔寒夜終夜立雪庭積雪埋腰初祖見呵口諸佛無上少道曠却難行難忍能忍難行能行汝等憍心慢心争豈得分二祖即断左臂見今時認無事安閑為向上禅認無念無心為宗票視瞎癡漢將喜耶將悲耶嗟

Translation:

A long time ago, the Second Patriarch stood in a

garden on a cold night until the snow came up to

his waist. The First Patriarch saw this and scolded

him: »It's wasteful for you to approach the marvel-

ous ways of the Buddhas with worthless efforts.

Can you endure that which cannot be endured, and

practice that which cannot be practiced? How can

you hope to know true religion with a shallow heart

and an arrogant mind?«

The Second Patriarch then cut off his left arm. See-

ing this, Bodhidharma immediately allowed Huike

access to peaceful tranquility, and let him practice

an advanced level of Zen. Allowing freedom from

ideas and feelings, the Second Patriarch practiced

the true nature of religion and came to understand

the blind and the stupid.

On one hand, rejoice! On the other, how sad!

Seals:

1) Hakuin 白隠2) Ekaku 慧鶴3) Kokan’i 顧鑑意

Box inscription, outer:

»True (Ink) Traces of Zen Master Hakuin: The

Second Zen Patriarch« 白隠禅師真蹟二祖

Box inscription, inner:

»Certified by the old monk Sōkaku, presently at

the Shōin[ji] Temple, dated on an auspicious day

in the 2nd month of 1960«

昭和三十五年如月吉日現松蔭宗鶴翁識

Box inscriptions, end:

»Hakuin: Niso inscription, apprentice monk in

snow. Bokubi« 白隠二祖賛　雪中雲水　墨美»Hakuin Zen Monk: painting and inscription of

Dharma Master Niso« 白隠禅師　二祖大師画賛

Oval seal mark: »Shinwa’an Collection« seal

Published in:

Morita, Shiryū 森田子龍, ed. Bokubi Tokushū:

Hakuin bokuseki 墨美特集―白隠墨蹟．Kyoto:

Bokubisha 墨美社, 1985, plate 263.

Tanaka Daisaburō 田中大三郎, ed. Hakuin zenshi

bokusekishu 白隠禅師墨蹟集. Tokyo: Rokugei

Shobō 六芸書房, 2006, plate 47

Hakuin here represents the Second Patriarch of Zen

Buddhism, Eka 慧可 (Chinese: Huike; 487 – 593), as

he is standing out in the snow, patiently hoping for

the First Patriarch, the great Bodhdharma (Japanese:

Daruma), to accept him as a student. We see the

snow piling up on the monk’s hat and on the pines

in the background and feel the hardship of the monk

hoping for approval from the stern Indian monk,

sitting in meditation in the Shaolin Temple 少林寺.

According to the records, Eka was born close to

Luoyang 洛陽 and practiced religions under a

number of masters before coming to the snowy

garden at age forty. The famous story alluded to in

Hakuin’s inscription describes how the monk was

finally able to receive Bodhidharma’s approval by

cutting off his left hand and presenting this as a

52

tribute to the older monk. After several years of

hard practice, Eka received the Dharma transmis-

sion from Bodhidharma. During the lifetime of

Eka, Buddhism suffered under persecutions in China.

Nonetheless, he is recorded as having preached

for over forty years and coming to rest at the high

age of 107.

The earliest extant biographies of Zen Patriarchs is

the Biographies of Eminent Monks (519) (高僧傳;

Japanese: Kōsōden; Chinese: Gaoseng zhuan) and

its sequel, Further Biographies of Eminent Monks

(続高僧傳; Japanese: Zoku Kōsōden; Chinese: Xu

gaoseng zhuan), written in 645 by Daoxuan (道宣;

596 – 667). For the Japanese monks, however, the

fourteenth-century compilation Transmission of

the Lamp (伝灯録; Dentōroku), by Keizan Jokin

(1268 –1325), a collection of 53 enlightenment sto-

ries based on the traditional legendary accounts of

the Zen transmission between successive masters

and disciples, became very influential.1 Although

the stories are semi-legendary, they came to take

on real importance for the early modern Japanese

monks, such as Hakuin.2 Although Hakuin’s inscrip-

tion quotes sections of the Transmission of the Lamp,

there are sections that do not appear there or in

other known texts. As all of Hakuin’s Second Patri-

arch paintings have variations in the text, it seems

safe to say that Hakuin worked from memory and

added or amended sections as he saw fit.

Many portraits of Zen patriarchs by Hakuin exist,

and he is famous for his images of the Bodhidharma

and of the Kannon, which comprise the largest

group of extant Hakuin paintings. There are, howev-

er, very few paintings of the Second Patriarch.3 Ac-

cording to the great Hakuin scholar Takeuchi Naoji

竹内尚次, the portraits of the Second Patriarch are

important as a representation of Hakuin’s earliest

extant paintings—he suggests that a painting similar

to the present work was brushed by Hakuin in his

thirty-fifth year.4 Moreover, Takeuchi provides no

examples of Second Patriarch paintings brushed

after the earliest period of painting.5 This makes

the Second Patriarch paintings rare, as Hakuin

claimed to have burned all his earlier paintings.

Furthermore, it could well be significant that Hakuin

only painted the Second patriarch painting in his

younger days, at a time when he was still struggling

with the principles of Zen Buddhism. At times he

surely must have felt like the Second Patriarch himself.

And as he writes in his inscription (»On one hand,

rejoice! On the other, how sad!«), Hakuin seems not

entirely at ease with the message of extreme self-

mutilation that the story valorizes. Perhaps he was

able to separate himself from the pressing mes-

sage of the story of the arm-sacrificing monk as he

got older and more settled into Zen practice.

The painting is also of interest in the way it shows

Hakuin, the painter, working with shapes. Looking

at the composition, one can see a carefully orches-

trated semi-circle of triangular shapes, starting

with the monk’s hat in front and repeating with pine

trees behind. The receding line of similar shapes

works to anchor the monk firmly into the composi-

tion of this painting and further emphasizes the

key point of the story: the permanence, duration,

and perseverance of the monk as he stands root-

ed to the garden ground over night while the snow

piles up around him. It is a fine example of how

a painting’s composition reinforces its motif. It also

reminds us that the often haphazard-looking ap-

pearance of Hakuin paintings might well be any-

thing but spontaneous: the compositions are like-

ly the result of much consideration of shapes and

painterly ideas.

The painting is housed in a kiri box that was certi-

fied and inscribed in February 1960 by the Hakuin

authority Tsūzan Sōkaku (1891–1974), the seven-

teenth abbot of Hakuin’s old temple, the Shōinji

Temple in Hara.

54

11

Hakuin Ekaku 白隠慧鶴 (1685 –1768)

Tenjin Traveling to China

Edo period (1615 –1868), circa 1760

H 15 ¾" × W 5 ½" (incl. mounting 41¼" × 8 ¼")

(39.9 cm × 13.8 cm, 104.5 cm × 21 cm)

Hanging scroll, ink on paper

Inscription:

唐衣おらで北野の神ぞとは袖にもちたる梅にても知れ

Even if you cannot tell

From the Chinese robes he wears

You must know that it is him

From the plum blossoms

He holds in his sleeves

Figure composed of characters:

南無天満大自在天神

Hail to Tenjin, God of the Tenman Shrine

Seals:

Hakuin 白隠Ekaku 慧鶴Kokan’e 顧鑑夷

This whimsical ink painting by Hakuin is of Suga-

wara Michizane 菅原道真 (845 – 903), a historical

figure about whom many legends have been cre-

ated. Michizane was an aristocrat and courtier at

the imperial palace in Kyoto and became a lead-

ing scholar and poet of his generation. After being

falsely accused by a political rival, he was exiled

to Dazaifu in Kyushu, where he died in great sorrow.

The legends have him come back later to the cap-

ital city as a malevolent ghost and cause great

havoc until the Kitano Tenmangū Shrine was built

in his honor. Eventually his court titles and honors

were restored and he was deified as a Shinto god

by the Heian leaders in an attempt to calm his

angry spirit.1

As a god, Michizane took on the function of the

God of Learning and received the blossoming

plum flower as his symbol. Hakuin painted many

images of Michizane and seems to have been

fond of this gentle figure of learning and culture.2

It seems fitting that the God of Learning is here

drawn entirely in characters—in the so called mojie

文字絵 »character painting« technique.3

The inscription is from a 13th century Japanese text

in which the spirit of Michizane flies across time

and space and actively interacts with leading Bud-

dhist monks in Japan and China, more than 300

years after his death.4 In this legend, he first ap-

pears in 1241 in the dream of a Kyushu merchant

and asks for a number of ceremonies in his honor.

Despite valiant attempts by the rich merchant,

they fail to satisfy Michizane,who decides to make

an appearance before the Tofukuji Temple abbot

Enni Benen 円爾弁円 (1202 – 80) in Kyoto and ask

to become his student. Enni instructs Michizane to

go instead to China and to seek guidance from the

great monk Wuzhun Shifan 無準師範（1178 –249),

who was Enni’s own master. Michizane follows the

advice and travels to China in a single night to

appear before the Chinese monk and the two then

hold a conversation, which includes an exchange

of poetry. This journey by Michizane to China

forms the title of this painting. A poem uttered by

Michizane is the one that Hakuin inscribed above

the painting. During the conversation, the Chinese

monk gives Michizane a Chinese robe as a sign of

enlightenment, a robe that Michizane takes back

with him to Japan. Hakuin here depicts Michizane

with the Chinese robe that he has just received

from Wuzhun Shifan.

The painting is interesting on a number of points,

as it represents interactions between religions

and cultures, between images and words. The

Michizane painting can be seen as a symbolic

interaction between China and Japan (in people,

in clothing, in travel, and in text) and between

56

religions (a Shinto god interacting with Buddhist

leaders and receiving enlightenment). We also

see the creative interaction between words and

images, as the clothing of Michizane is composed

of individual characters, forming the words »Hail to

Tenjin, God of the Tenman Shrine.« The characters

are not written in order, but instead randomly fol-

low the contours of Michizane’s clothing and body.

The artist is mischievously playing a game with the

viewer and challenging him to solve the reading of

the visual puzzle.

We see Hakuin in this and other similar paintings

not as a strict promoter of his own sect, but rather

as a teacher who understands and appreciates dif-

ferences—as someone who reaches across divides

between cultures, religions and traditions.

58

12

Sengai Gibon 仙厓義梵 (1750 –1837)

The Hakata Top Crossing a String

Edo period (1615 –1868), circa 1820

H 14 ¼" × W 21½" (incl. mounting 49 ½" × 24 ¾")

(36.3 cm × 54.7 cm, 126 cm × 62.6 cm)

Hanging scroll, ink on silk

Seal on painting: Sengai 仙厓Painting inscription: Ladies and gentlemen, if you

are looking for wealth and fortune, then look at the

spinning top from Hakata, actually crossing a string.

Careful, careful! Look here, if you lower the string

then it will come spinning, spinning toward you. If

you raise it a little, then it will go spinning away, all

the way to the next town. So be careful of how you

hold your string. Why don’t you try?

東西々々福徳を願ふ / なら博多古まの / 糸渡りアレ々々手元を / さくれハこちらへ / ころ々々ころんてこさる / 手元を少高むれハ / 向ふ町へさけて行 / 手元におきを付られませ / ヨウ々々

Box, outer inscription, top: »Brushed by the Monk

Sengai. Painting with Inscription of the Hakata Top

Crossing a String« Hakata koma ito watari no gasan:

Sengai oshō hitsu 博多古満糸渡りの画賛 仙厓和尚筆1

Box, inner inscription:

»Title inscribed by the 70-year old Tōkō«

shichijū-ō Tōkō dai shirusu 七十翁韜光題署

We see here a strikingly humorous ink painting by

Sengai, one of the great Edo period Zen Buddhist

artists.2 Sengai depicts a street performer who bal-

ances a spinning top for an audience. The performer,

the God of Luck Daikoku in disguise, balances the

top on a string which is tied to bales of rice—a refer-

ence to wealth in a time when wealth was generally

measured in number of rice bales. There is also a

large bag under the top, referring to the riches that

may be available with luck.

The joke here is how the important matter of fortune

in life can be reduced to a spinning top plied by a

street performer. The strangeness of the situation is

further reinforced by the colloquial banter of the

street performer, as he tries to gather a crowd (see

inscription). Of course, Sengai provides a serious

edge to his joke: just as a slight movement to the

hand can make the difference between the top ar-

riving (good luck) and the top flying away (bad luck),

our lives and fortunes are also easily influenced

by outside events. That is why we need to place our

faith in permanent, immovable things, such as the

Buddha.

Sengai made a number of paintings of street per-

formers in order to illustrate his allegories.3 He

was clearly interested in the life of the commoners

around him and saw the humor in daily life as an

effective way to make his serious points about life,

religion and fate to the people who visited his

temple. The fact that this painting is done on silk,

a rare material for Sengai, indicates that it was

made not for a common visitor but for an important

person. For Sengai the mixture of elite and com-

mon was entirely in character—in his paintings he

aimed at the common human condition of all, re-

gardless of social status.4

Other examples of the spinning top performer are

known. One example with a similar inscription is in

the Idemitsu Collection5, a work that toured Europe

in one of the pioneering Edo-period Zen painting

exhibitions in 1964.6 Other examples show similar

compositions, yet never exactly the same inscription

and Sengai was apparently happy to keep chang-

ing the wording of his message.7

The box is inscribed and authenticated by the Zen

Buddhist abbot Tōkō Genjō. After a longer time of

inactivity, Sengai’s old temple, the Shōfukuji 聖福寺,

was revitalized by Tōkō. He was also active as a col-

lector of Sengai paintings. He became known as the

leading connoisseur of Sengai, and scrolls with

his inscriptions are eagerly sought after by Sengai

collectors.8

60

13

Kishi Chozen 岸長善

(fl. 1st half of 19th century)

Fire in Edo

Edo period (1615 –1868), circa 1845

H 50 ¾" × W 23 ¾" (incl. mounting 89 ¼" × 29")

(128.8 cm × 60.1 cm, 227 cm × 73.7 cm)

Hanging scroll, ink and light colors on paper

Top seal: Kishi 岸

Bottom seal: Chōzen 長善Box inscription: »Shadow painting of a conflagra-

tion; night scene of Edo« 影絵火災　江戸夜景

During the Edo period, Edo became so famous for

its frequent fires (and fights) that it became popular

to say that: »Fire and Fistfights are the Flowers of

Edo«, 火事と喧嘩は江戸の花

With frequent earthquakes and architecture of wood

and paper, fires were major events in the life of any

early modern Japanese city. None as much as Edo,

however, whose history is punctuated with major

fires that razed large parts of the city, no less than

49 major fires during the Edo Period.1

In this rare and important painting we stand witness

to another major fire in its early stages. What at first

appears to be a painting of the city at dawn is in fact

a night scene with a fire in the distance. Upon see-

ing the running figures and riders on horses head-

ing toward the fire, the viewer starts to understand

the setting. The groups of firefighters and other citi-

zens scurry about with lanterns in the darkness, some

clearly worried and yet others largely unconcerned

with the approaching fire.

The painter of this scene was very careful with de-

tails: we are in the center of the city with the Edo

Bridge to the middle-right edge of the painting.

Further to the right, off the painting surface, is Nihon

Bridge and the area with the merchant warehouses

of Edo. Three of these large warehouses can be seen

to the left of the bridge, facing the river. From the

foreground to the far distance we see a multitude

of fire towers with people on top, keeping an eye

on the fire. The fire and great clouds of smoke can

be seen in the center, in the direction of Aoyama

and the southwestern part of Edo.2

A number of Japanese paintings, for example ema-

kimono narrative hand scrolls, woodblock prints,

books or paintings, show depictions of fire—and

fire was also a major topic in literature and drama.

Urban legends, such as the one about Yaoya no

Oshichi setting Edo afire to meet her beloved

monk, became one of many stories around which

Kabuki and Bunraku plays were created. A whole

culture of fire and firefighters developed in Edo

and much attention was given to the legend and

material culture of fire. It is not surprising that fire

should capture the imagination of so many, when

so much was at stake, even the lives of the citizens.

Among the large groups of people gathering in

shadows are members of different professions

and social groups. The largest of these are the fire

fighters. They hold the tools of their profession—

banners, pikes and ladders—and are directed by

city ward officials (machi bugyō) on horses with

lanterns. Through this crowd scene, we can see how

they have gathered, coming out of various build-

ings and meeting in different groups, each with

distinct banners. The firefighters were divided by

name and area and were fiercely loyal to their

group, working independently, sometimes in con-

flict with other groups.3

The drama of the fire and the firefighters height-

ens upon coming closer to the fire. We see how the

groups of firefighters with lanterns crowd across

the Edo Bridge and onto the other shore. Further

on, we see how they have climbed up on the roofs

of the houses right next to the fire, busily disman-

tling houses and their tile roofs. The fires of Edo

were not fought with water; rather, houses around

the blaze were razed, creating natural fire barriers.

62

The artist was clearly interested in the inner networks

of the city and delighted in his ability to depict as

much information as possible through shadows.

This he does in a remarkably complex way. We see

the different professions: geisha (elaborate hair

decorations), samurai (two swords), blind masseurs,

itinerant monks, porters, prostitutes, palanquin

carriers, travelers, guides, merchants, waitresses

and even two dogs. The lanterns are likewise

differentiated, with the marks of daimyo, temples,

firefighter groups, restaurants, and food vendors.

The artist seems to have had a soft spot for eating

establishments, as we see them in grand detail,

from a fine two-storied restaurant in the middle

(the Iroha いろは establishment) to a ramen noodle

shop and other eating stalls in the center. Restau-

rants were at the time not only places to eat, but

were also places to gather for entertainment or other

cultural activities, such as poetry groups or sales

of art, and they frequently became the subject

matter for paintings or prints.4 This painting shows

an unusual example of a high-class restaurant in

full operation against the approaching inferno on

the horizon.5

Another aspect of Edo food culture can be seen

in the booths of soba sellers in the center and the

very bottom of the painting. Both of the soba sell-

ers are labeled Nihachi 二八 and are thus the same

establishment. The »Nihachi« also refers to a spe-

cial kind of soba (called the Nihachi) that was intro-

duced in 1716 and became enormously popular

in Edo during the mid- and late Edo period.6 The

soba was made on the spot and served hot, in fact

what we can see happening in the painting.

The prodigious amount of information conveyed by

shadows reflects a strong interest in the tradition of

shadow pictures. These types of shadow paintings,

or kage-e 影絵 became popular during the 18th and

19th centuries and appear in a number of permuta-

tions, including early woodblock prints by Torii

Kiyonaga (1799), Dutch shadow prints by Jippensha

Ikku (1810), parlor game prints of Hiroshige from

1842, and death portraits by Shibata Zeshin (1867).7

The artist Kishi Chōzen is presently unidentified, but

this may be due to a number of factors, including

the possible need for anonymity in describing with

great detail a scene that led to great destruction.

Possible candidates are lesser-known members of

the Kishi painting school, or a talented monk affili-

ated with the temple Chōzenji 長善寺8 in Edo. An-

other possibility is Chisen Daigu 智仙大愚 (ac. mid

19th century), a poet in the Yanaka 谷中 district of

Edo. He was active in the cultural circles of Edo in

the mid-nineteenth century and went by the name

of Chōzen 長善.9 In any case, the artist certainly had

great talent and familiarity with the organizations

within the city, especially that of its firefighters: the

details are remarkable, and the skill undeniable.

We also get an indication of how a later owner of

the painting placed great value on this rare painting

by mounting the painting in rare imported sten-

ciled cotton textile that was likely brought to Japan

by Dutch traders in Dejima.

64

14

Mochizuki Gyokusen 望月玉泉 (1834 –1913)

Waterfall

Meiji Period (1868 –1912), circa 1900

H 65 ½" × W 22 ½" (incl. mounting 92 ¾" × 28 ¼")

(166.3 cm × 56.4 cm, 235.5 cm × 71.8 cm)

Hanging scroll, ink and silver on silk

Signature: »painted by Gyokusen« 玉泉写Seal: Shiseikan 資清館

A thunderous waterfall crashes down onto rocks

in this masterful display of natural forces. An ency-

clopedic array of ink techniques come together

to create a powerful, yet poetic evocation of a mas-

sive waterfall in action. Through the mist, spray

and streams, we see here all the permutations of

a waterfall in one great image.

Gyokusen uses the tarashikomi technique of drip-

ping ink into wet ink, creating a mottled effect on

the rocks. He sprays tiny ink droplets on the silk

surface and paints water splashes to portray the

violent energy of water crashing onto sheer rock.

His use of fine silver droplets to simulate glistening

water mist in the sunlight is rare and striking. By

gradually shrouding details in mist as one goes

down the waterfall, the artist has generated a clear

contrast between the darkly-modulated and clear

details at the top of the paining and the misty grays

a the bottom of the fall, heightening the narrative

of a waterfall in action.

Gyokusen’s painting reflects a clear interest in re-

alism. We also see his interest in earlier Japanese

paintings as his work follows a tradition of monu-

mental waterfalls by Maruyama Ōkyo.1 The intent

here was to create the feeling of a real waterfall,

which, when hanging in the tokonoma alcove, ap-

pears to come crashing down, the four walls of

the small room now sheer cliffs and the water rush-

ing down onto the tatami floor. Just as in the earlier

versions by Ōkyo, Gyokusen emphasizes this surre-

al scene in a small room by the oversized format

of the painting, almost 8 feet in length.2

Gyokusen was born in Kyoto and became the fourth

generation Mochizuki painter, after taking over

from his father Gyokusen 望月玉川 (and eventually

handing it on to his own son Muchizuki Gyokkei

望月玉渓). Taught by his father, he took over the

family workshop and became the appointed court

painter for the imperial house. He became a lead-

ing figure of the Meiji-period Kyoto art scene, and

together with Kōno Bairei 幸野梅嶺 he founded the

Kyoto Prefectural Art School 京都府画学校 in 1878.

He was active in foreign exhibitions and won the

Bronze Medal at the International Paris Exposition

in 1889. In his old age, he received numerous

national prizes and honors and retained his close

connection to the imperial house.3

66

15

Hirai Baisen 平井楳仙 (1889 –1969)

The Snow of Kamogawa River 鴨川の雪

Taishō Period (1912 – 26), dated 1917

H 50" × W 16 ½" (incl. mounting 85" × 22")

(126.7 cm × 41.9 cm, 216 cm × 55.8 cm)

Hanging scroll, ink, colors and gofun on silk

Painting signature: »Painted by Baisen« 楳仙画

Painting seal: Baisen 楳仙Box inscription, top:

»The Snow of Kamogawa River« 鴨川の雪Box inscription, inside:

»Painted by Baisen on a spring day in 1917.

Titled by the artist himself«丁巳春日作楳仙自題Seal: Baisen 楳仙Box inscription, end:

»By the brush of Baisen. Painting of Snow and Ka-

mogawa River. Matsubara Miyagawa 7-chō. Colors

on silk. Matched box«

松原宮川七丁　楳仙筆　鴨川雪の図　着色絹本　 共箱　七丁

It is a winter day with falling snow, the sky darken-

ing in the late afternoon. We see a footbridge, the

Matsubara Bridge, crossing the Kamogawa Riv-

er in Kyoto, to the south of Shijō Street.1 Outlined

against the sky are the Higashiyama mountains on

the eastern side of Kyoto. On the far side of the river

are the teahouses of the Gion entertainment dis-

trict. The two travelers on the footbridge are head-

ing toward Gion, perhaps customers preparing to

visit a favorite establishment or perhaps the geisha

getting ready for that evening’s performance.

The site, the Kamogawa River and the teahouses

along its banks, has long been one of the famous

sights of Kyoto. This was the case in the 16th/17th

century Rakuchū rakugaizu screens and was still

the case in the time of Hirai Baisen. Further views

of the area are included in the three albums that

Baisen composed for the tenth Bunten Exhibition

in 1916, depicting thirty different views of Kyoto,

entitled Miyako sanjukkei.2 Interestingly, Baisen also

painted the Higashiyama mountains of the area

on a pair of monumental landscape screens during

the late Taishō period, using similar techniques.3

Clearly the artist had no difficulties in adjusting his

compositions to different scales and formats.

The artist was known for his remarkable changes in

style and subject matter. His return from a trip to

China in 1913 inaugurated a period during which he

created ink landscape paintings of Chinese moun-

tains and pagodas.4 Later yet, his attention returned

to Japan and he went into a period of brilliant rec-

reations of his hometown, Kyoto. Not only did his

theme and subject matter change, but so did his

techniques and materials used. In place of ink and

paper, he later used silk and heavy Nihonga-style

pigments of mineral colors and gofun, a powder

derived from seashells.

Baisen was particularly adapt in the use of gofun,

which, because of its thick and inflexible consis-

tancy, can be difficult to use and tends to flake off.

For this painting, Baisen prepared layers of gofun

on the front as well as on the back of the silk. Using

the white material on both sides of the silk5 made

it possible to show various shades of white and

impart a sense of depth to the colors. It also makes

the gofun snowflakes stand out more against

the fine ink wash and gives a feel of looking at a

landscape through falling snow.6

Baisen was a leading painter of the twentieth-cen-

tury Nihonga movements during Taishō to early

Shōwa periods.7 An art critic and intellectual, he

was well aware of the history and traditions of

Japanese art, as can be seen in this painting, which

shows references to a line of prior images, from

the early Rakuchū rakugaizu screens8 to the 19th

century landscape prints by Hiroshige to early

20th century prints by the Shin hanga artists. The

painting represents a brilliant reworking of past

traditions and an evocative new depiction of one

of Kyoto’s famous sights.

68

16

Watanabe Shotei 渡辺省亭 (1851–1918)

New Year with Small Pines and a Pair of Cranes

正月小松と雙鶴

Meiji period (1868 –1912), circa 1910

H 42 ½" × W 15 ¾" (incl. mounting 75 ½" × 20 ¾")

(108 cm × 39.9 cm, 192 cm × 52.6 cm)

Hanging scroll, ink, color and lacquer on silk

Inscription: Shōtei 省亭Seal: Shōtei 省亭Box top: »New Year: Small Pines and Crane Pair,

Painted by Shōtei.« 正月小松と雙鶴　省亭画Box end: »Pair of cranes by the brush of Shōtei,

(First) Month.« 雙鶴省亭筆［正］月

Crane paintings have a venerable tradition in Japan

and there are numerous well-known works on the

theme.1 In Japan the combination of cranes with

young pines and the rising sun became a symbol

for the New Year and displaying such images at

homes and institutions became a favorite way to

welcome the new season.2

New Year was clearly also the intended message

in this painting, judging from the title that the artist

wrote on the tomobako box. Yet, in the hands of

Shōtei, one of the greatest animal painters of the

Meiji period, the painting becomes much more

than a New Year’s symbol. For one thing, Shōtei

had a clear interest in portraying animals with real

personalities. The eye of the upper bird, painted

with ink and black lacquer, is particularly life-like

and captivating. Through the poses of the birds,

we also get a sense of cranes with different person-

alities: one protecting, the other cowering in the

shadow of the larger bird.

Further, the combination of rough brush strokes at

the tail feathers with fine brush strokes and details

at the heads and beaks creates interest and vitality

to the scene.

Shōtei was one of the most colorful characters in

the art scene of the Meiji period and became a real

celebrity of his time.3 He was the first Japanese

student to study in Europe and learned, in 1878 – 81,

the Western painting methods of his time. He won

prizes in numerous Western exhibitions—such as in

Paris in 1878, Amsterdam in 1883, and Chicago in

1893—and became one of the best-known Japanese

artists in the West. He also published numerous

books on paintings, collaborated on cloisonné de-

signs, and courted controversy, for example, by

daring to publish a nude study in the journal Kokumin

no tomo in 1889.

The level to which he was esteemed by others—and

himself—can be gauged by the striking ichimonji

mounting of this hanging scroll: the design is his

own and displays a woven pattern with Shōtei’s

own seals, highlighted in silver and gold threads.

Shōtei was clearly an artist not afraid to go against

the conventions nor afraid of standing out in crowd.

And as we see in this superb bird study, he had

ample reasons to be justifiably proud of his skills.

70

17

Tojima Mitsuzane 戸島光孚 (fl. 1906 – 40)

Set of Three Lacquer Paintings with Carps

Shōwa Period (1926 – 89), dated 1929

H 52 ¼" × W 16 ¼" (incl. mounting 83 ¼" × 21¾")

(132.5 cm × 41.5 cm, 211.5 cm × 55.2 cm) each

Set of 3 hanging scrolls

Lacquer, light color and ink on silk

Inscription on central painting:

»Lacquer painting by Mitsuzane of Kyoto«

平安光孚漆画Inscription on outer paintings:

»Lacquer painting by Mitsuzane« 光孚漆画.

Seal on all three paintings: Mitsuzane 光孚Box, outer inscription:

»Lacquer paintings, set of three: center, waterfall-

ascending carp; left and right, playing carp«

漆画　中瀑布登鯉　右左遊鯉之図　三幅対Box, inner inscription: »Mitsuzane of Kyoto painted

this, dated June of the year corresponding to 1929

(Shōwa 4)« 昭和己巳ノ初夏　平安　光孚画之Seal: Mitsuzane 光孚

A striking set of three paintings depicting various

aspects of the carp. The carp has many connota-

tions in Japanese culture and a key meaning dates

back to Chinese texts. It was said that a carp which

succeeded in ascending the Longmen Waterfall in

the Jishishan Mountains of China would become

a dragon. In extension, the image of the waterfall-

springing carp came to take on the symbolism

of perseverance. In Japan the image became a

fitting present for someone who had to overcome

adversity; for example, a student about to take

entrance exams.

The artist here, however, plays with this idea as he

depicts not only the central carp trying to cross

the waterfall, but also two carps on the side paint-

ings swimming in tranquil waters. Although this

combination is not unusual in itself, and artists such

as Maruyama Ōkyo (1733 – 95) have painted both

types of carp paintings,1 we understand the in-

tention of the artist on reading the cover of the

wooden tomobako box. There the artist has entitled

his composition: »Lacquer paintings, set of three.

Center: Waterfall-Climbing Carp. Left and right:

Playing Carps.« This takes on an extra meaning in

spoken Japanese, as »playing carp« (yūri 遊鯉),

can also be read »asobu koi« or »asobi koi«, the

same pronunciation as »come, let’s play!« In other

words, the stern injunction to persevere and to

sacrifice is here undercut with calls for enjoyment.

The artist, Tojima Mitsuzane (also known as Kōami)

was a remarkable Kyoto lacquer artist who active-

ly took part in the changing cultural world of his

time.2 He was the founding editor of the Shikkikai,

an influential journal devoted to developments in

the lacquer world, and his interest in new ideas and

reinterpretations of lacquer traditions can clearly

be seen in the way he works as a cross-over artist in

this painting. He uses his lacquer techniques on the

silk surfaces of the paintings but then adds details

in regular ink, colors and gold wash. He effectively

uses the glistening surface of lacquer to simulate

the glistening scales of the carps; this works partic-

ularly well on the central waterfall-climbing carp’s

fish scales between the streams of water.

Mitsuzane’s attention to detail can also be seen

in the silk mounting of the paintings, which have

a design of water skaters and waves, echoing the

subject matter of the painting.

We know that Mitsuzane took part in group exhibi-

tions in the late Meiji period (the earliest record is

1906) and that he exhibited lacquer pieces in several

national exhibitions, notably the 15th Teiten Exhibi-

tion (1934), the Revised Teiten Exhibition (1936),

and the National Commemoration Exhibition (1940).3

He also held solo exhibitions, including a major one

at the Tōhoku Kurabu in December 1917. Mitsuzane

was seen as an important lacquer artist of his time

and there are several examples of his work in the col-

lection of the Imperial Palace. In 2007, some of these

objects were exhibited in a major exhibition of Taishō

period art in the Imperial collection.4

72

18

Sano Kosui 佐野光穂 (1896 –1960)

A Cat in a Melon Patch

Taishō Period (1912 – 26), circa 1925

H 57" × W 20" (incl. mounting 85" × 26")

(145cm × 50.7 cm, 216 cm × 65.8 cm)

Hanging scroll, ink, colors and gold on silk

Signature: Keimei 契明Seal: Keimei 契明

A black cat sits among melons and looks out at the

world. The artist presents us here with a striking

composition of a cat sitting in unexpected surround-

ings. The painting is a well thought-out composi-

tion of shapes and colors in which the black furry

cat with golden eyes stands out among the light-

colored spiraling tendrils, decaying flowers, and

bulbous melons.

The technical skills of the artist are astonishing:

he manages to combine the ink, colors and gold

—both wet and dry—to create the furry coat of the

cat (by making ink seep out into the silk) as well

as the surface patterns of the melon and leaves.

The technique he uses throughout is tarashikomi,

a procedure in which ink, mineral colors and gold

are dipped into a still-wet surface of ink.1 As the

technique is difficult to control, it is usually done on

sized paper; tarashikomi on silk, as in this case, is

rare. The resulting painting is an elegant display of

the superlative skills of the artist.

Sano Kōsui came from the Nagano prefecture and

arrived in Kyoto in 1914 during the Taishō Period,

when many great painters were active at the same

time.2 He was fortunate to become a student under

two of the leading artists of the time. He first learned

Shijō school techniques under Kikuchi Keigetsu

菊池契月 (1879 –1955), then Nihonga techniques

under Tomita Keisen 富田渓仙 (1879 –1936).3

The artist was also known for his independence and

strong will. He was ousted from Keigetsu’s studio

after he married against the wishes of his master.

Keisen, however, respected his talented student and

the relations between the artist and his new master

remained harmonious.

Kōsui moved to Kobe, but returned to Kyoto in 1928,

where he stayed for the rest of his professional life.

He specialized in paintings of animals and took part

in numerous exhibitions. His works were also in-

cluded in prestigious national venues, such as the

Teiten and the Inten exhibtions.4

74

19

Tsuji Kako 都路華杳 (1870 –1931)

Daruma Portrait

Taishō Period (1912 – 26), circa 1915

H 46 ¼" × W 16 ¼" (incl. mounting 84 ¾" × 23")

(117.2 cm × 41 cm, 215 cm × 58.2 cm)

Hanging scroll, ink and colors on paper

Signature, painting: Kakō 華香Seal, painting: Kakō 華香

Box inscription, top:

»Painting of Bodhidharma« 菩提達磨図

Box inscription, signature and seal inside:

»Title by Kakō« 華香題 and Shishun 子春

This striking portrait of the First Patriarch of Bud-

dhism, Bodhidharma (Japanese: Daruma) was

painted by the noted Nihonga artist Kakō in the

Taishō period. The body and robe of the patriarch

are painted with strokes of abstracted repetitions,

varying only in density. The heavy layering of color

on Daruma’s chest has resulted in an interesting

mottling of the surface, giving a realistic touch.

Kakō created a series of Daruma portraits in the

1910’s1; as in the other extant examples, there is

also here an emphasis on the chest and the ge-

neral hairiness of the Indian patriarch.2

One may well ask why a Nihonga artist would paint

a series of Daruma images, a topic one would

rather expect from Zen monks. One reason is Kakō’s

strong belief in Zen Buddhism, which is reflected

in the thirty years of religious training he underwent

with the monk Mokurai (1854 –1930), a Zen Bud-

dhist abbot of the Kenninji Temple in Kyoto.3 Further,

the historical and textual roots of Buddhism were

an important theme for the intellectuals of the Taishō

period. This was the time of the compilation and

publication of the great Taishō shinshū Daizōkyō, a

monumental work of Buddhist scholarship which is

still in use across the world. Therefore an intellectual

interest in Buddhism and in the founder, Daruma,

may also have been a reason for the many portraits.

Kakō was known for his unusual cutting-edge images

and succeeds, more than almost any other Japanese

artist of his time, in combining Japanese painting

tradition with modernist ideas; here, an old tradition

of drawing portraits of Daruma is updated by the

artist.4 For an example of his modernist painting in

a screen format, see our 2009 publication, item 3.

In the past decade, awareness of the artist has grown

dramatically in the West and Kakō is now well re-

presented in the museums and collections of the

Western world.

76

20

Nantembo Toju 南天棒登洲 (1839 –1925)

Hearing Nothing, Seeing Nothing

Taishō Period (1912 – 26), dated 1923

H 54 ¾" × W 20 ½" (incl. mounting 80" × 26 ½")

(139.3cm × 52 cm, 203 cm × 67 cm)

Hanging scroll, ink on satin

Signature: »eighty-five year old Nantembō Tōjū«

八十五翁南天棒登洲

Seals:

1) »eighty-five year old Nantembō« 八十五翁南天棒

2) Hakugaikutsu 白崖窟, and 3) Tōjū 登洲 1

Inscription: »Katsu! And for three days, hearing

nothing« Katsu mikka jirō 喝三日耳聾2

Box inscription: »Nantembō ›Katsu mikka jorō‹

scroll with satin« 南天棒　喝三日耳聾　絖本竪幅

This powerful calligraphic scroll by the Zen monk

Nantembō shows the aged artist at the height of

his powers. At eighty-five, the monk still astonishes

the viewer with his forceful strokes and his clear

insight into Zen Buddhist texts and traditions.

In this scroll Nantembō quotes an early key text of

the Zen monks, the Jingde chuandenglu (Japanese:

Keitoku dentōroku) 『景徳伝燈録』, compiled in 1004.

The biography of the monk Hyakujō Ekai 百丈懐海

(749 – 814) is described in this text, including how

he repeatedly goes to his master, the great monk

Basō Dōitsu 馬祖道一 (709 – 88), in order to receive

guidance on his quest toward enlightenment. The

meeting is recorded as follows:

When I again approached Master Basō, he gave out

a great yell: »Katsu!« and I could not hear for three

days, nor could my eyes see.

老僧昔再参馬祖被大師一喝、直得三日耳聾眼暗3

In other words, the yell »katsu!«—a word used

to help bring monks to enlightenment—was said

with such force that the monk was lost to the

outer world for three days. That is, the word katsu

brought enlightenment to the monk through the

sheer force of its delivery and the overwhelmingly

strong personality of the master monk.

Nantembō cleverly recreates this verbal explosion

into a two-dimensional format by crashing his ink-

loaded brush with such force on the satin that ink

splashes all over the surface—and even beyond.

Matthew Welch describes an eye-witness descrip-

tion of such creations: »Nantembō…heavily loading

his oversized brush, slightly pinched the tip to tem-

porarily stop the flow of ink out of the bristles, and

then with great gusto hit the paper with the brush

to begin the character.«4 Clearly the monk was sim-

ulating the verbal force of his distant predecessor

and attempted to lead his viewers to enlightenment

through a powerful calligraphic recreation of the

word katsu.

Nantembō returned repeatedly to the word katsu;

for example, a hanging scroll with a large single

character dated to 1911 is in the collection of the

Museum of East Asian Art in Berlin.5 However, the

combination of the character with the above inscrip-

tion from Jingde chuandenglu is rare, and the

present example may be the only extant version. It

is in any case a remarkable example of Nantembō’s

striking visual interpretations of Zen Buddhist his-

tory through the medium of calligraphy.

Bamboo Baskets

80 81

21

Yamamoto Chikuryusai 山本竹龍斎Boat-Shaped Wide Basket 船形広籃

Taishō Period (1912 – 26), dated 1916

H 15 ¼" × L 20 ¾" × W 11¼"

(38.5 cm × 52.5 cm × 28.5 cm)

Ikebana flower basket

Madake bamboo, Hōbichiku bamboo

and rattan

Incised signature on the bottom:

Chikuryūsai kore tsukuru »Chikuryūsai made this«

Box inscription, outside:

Funagata morikago »Boat-Shaped Wide Basket«

Box inscription, inside: early spring, 1916 and

signed Chikuryūsai with a kakihan cipher.

This exceptional ikebana basket is a fine example

of the Chinese karamono-style, in which narrow

bamboo strips are plaited symmetrically with

great precision. Here the strips are plaited in the

hexagonal muttsume pattern and supported by

wider bamboo strips held together with rattan.

The distinctive four-point handle is attached to the

body with rattan braiding, which covers the entire

surfaces of the handle in an elegant pattern.

The basket comes with its original fitted tomobako

box which is lacquered on all surfaces, a sign of the

high value Chikuryūsai placed on the basket and

a treatment generally reserved for karamono-style

baskets. The box bears the inscriptions, signature,

date and cipher of Chikuryūsai.

Chikuryūsai must have been very satisfied with

this boat-shaped basket, for when he was offered

the opportunity to exhibit in Paris in 1925 at the

Japanese art exhibition, he made a slightly longer

basket in the same shape and construction. This

exhibition basket was illustrated in the 1925 catalog

and won a silver prize. It is now in the collection of

the Oita Prefectural Arts and Crafts Museum.

82 83

22

Maeda Chikubosai I

前田竹房斎 初代 (1872 –1950)

Wide-Mouthed Flower Basket 広口花篭

Shōwa Period (1926 – 89), dated 1942

H 19 ½", D 10"

(49.5 cm, 25.5 cm)

Ikebana flower basket

Madaken bamboo, Hōbichiku bamboo

and rattan.

Incised signature on the bottom:

Chikubōsai kore tsukuru »Chikubōsai made this«

Box inscription, outside:

Hiroguchi hanakago »Wide-Mouthed Flower Basket«

Box inscription, inside: Autumn day of the 2602nd

year of the Japanese Imperial calender (=1942).

Senyō Kuzezato Chikubōsai kore tsukuru

»Chikubōsai of the Senyō Studio in Kuzezato made

this« with square red seal mark reading Chikubōsai.

This large ikebana basket is made in the Chinese

karamono style, with exacting symmetry and

perfection.

The bottom is made of bamboo in the circular

amida kōami plaiting, where the bamboo strips are

arranged tangentially to form a circular opening,

which is reinforced by two larger bamboo pieces

crossing the center. One of these pieces bears the

incised signature reading Chikubōsai made this.

The sides are made of narrow strips of split madake

bamboo, plaited in a variation of the ajiro ami twill

pattern. The sides are reinforced by six vertical

bamboo ribs, which are tightly plaited with rattan.

The rim is plaited in no less than five different

patterns. The handle is made of three Hōbichiku

bamboo sections, decorated on the top with fine

knotting and held to the body at ten points using

tight rattan knotting.

The basket comes with its original fitted kiri-wood

tomobako box bearing the inscriptions, signature

and seal mark of Chikubōsai.

Chikubōsai was one of the greatest basket makers

of the Kansai region. He was active in the golden

age of Japanese basketry, 1910 – 40, when high-qual-

ity baskets such as this one were eagerly collected

by the Japanese and used in the tea ceremony.

Chikubōsai remained active through the second

World War and continued to make outstanding

baskets in those difficult years, such as this one in

1942 and another, item17 in our 2009 publication,

in 1941.1

His son, Chikubōsai II (1917 – 2003), continued the

basketry tradition and was named Living National

Treasure for bamboo crafts in 1995.

84 85

23

Tanabe Chikuunsai I 田辺竹雲斎 初代 (1877 –1937)

Crouching Tiger 虎伏

Shōwa Period (1926 – 89), 1920s

H 17 ¾", D 10 ¾"

(45 cm, 27cm)

Ikebana flower basket

Kinmeichiku bamboo, Hōbichiku bamboo

and Madake bamboo

Incised signature on the bottom:

Chikuunsai kore tsukuru »Chikuunsai made this«

Box inscription, outside:

Kinmeichiku hanakago torafushi

»Kinmeichiku Bamboo Flower Basket: Crouching

Tiger«

Box inscription, inside: Sakai-fu nansō Chikuunsai

kore tsukuru »Chikuunsai of the Nansō Studio in

Sakai-fu made this« with two red square seal marks

reading Ta[nabe] Tsune[o] no in »seal mark of

Tanabe Tsuneo« and Chikuunsai.

Chikuunsai was at the apex of his career when

he made this outstanding basket using smoked

Hōbichiku bamboo with rich patina for the basket,

plaiting the sides in the hemp-leaf pattern and the

bottom in the hexagonal muttsume pattern. The

bold handle of Kinmeichiku bamboo also has an

unusually beautiful patina and strength through

its bent form. In fact, the title that Chikuunsai gave

the basket, »Crouching Tiger«, derives from this

powerful handle.

The basket comes with its original lacquered bam-

boo otoshi tube to hold flowers and water and with

its original fitted and inscribed kiri-wood box.

For two similar baskets using the same types of

bamboo, see Japanese Bamboo Baskets: Master-

works of Form & Texture from the Collection of

Lloyd Cotsen (Los Angeles: Cotsen Occasional

Press, 1999), item number 85 by Chikuunsai I and

item number 86 by his son Chikuunsai II.

Tanabe Chikuunsai, the son of a high-ranking phy-

sician in the Kansai region, studied bamboo art

under Wada Waichisai I from the age of 18. After

becoming independent six years later in 1901,

he won numerous awards at national and interna-

tional art exhibitions, including one in Paris in

1925. He is especially well known for his precise,

detailed karamono-style baskets. He taught numer-

ous apprentices, including Chikubōsai I and his

son, Chikuunsai II.1

86 87

24

Morita Chikuami 森田竹阿弥 (1877 –1947)

Flared Flower Basket 末広形花籃

Shōwa Period (1926 – 89), 1930s

H 19", D 10 ¼"

(48.5 cm, 26 cm)

Ikebana flower basket

Hōbichiku smoked bamboo and rattan

Incised signature on the bottom:

Chikuami kore tsukuru »Chikuami made this«

Box inscription, outside:

Suehiro gata hanakago »Flared Flower Basket«

Box inscription, inside:

Chikuami zō »Made by Chikuami«

with a round red seal mark reading Chikuami.

Collector’s label on the box reads Takekago

hanaike or »Bamboo Basket Flower Vessel«

This basket in the Japanese taste was made to look

rustic, using old hōbichiku smoked bamboo and

including knobbed node sections in the design.

After plaiting, the outer surfaces were lacquered

with a red-brown natural lacquer that has acquired

a warm patina over time. To add to an aged, rustic

look, sabi or charcoal powder was dusted onto the

surfaces and then only partially brushed away, re-

maining in corners and cracks. The body is plaited

in an irregular ajiro ami or twill pattern and along

the vertical bamboo strips and the handle are fancy

knots made with rattan.

The basket is square on the bottom, flaring out to

a larger round opening. This suehiro or flaring shape

is auspicious in Japan, as it symbolizes growth and

improvement, starting small and growing in size.

On the bottom edge is the artist’s finely incised

signature. The basket is complete with the original

otoshi bamboo tube to hold the flowers and water

and the original fitted tomobako box.

Chikuami is the artist name of Morita Shintarō, who

was active in Kyoto in the early Shōwa period. For

this basket in the Japanese style (as opposed to the

karamono Chinese style) he used Hōbichiku bamboo,

which is a smoked bamboo traditionally used in farm

house ceilings. They can be hundreds of years old

and have gained a warm rich-colored patina from

age and from hearth smoke.

For another basket by Chikuami in the karamono

Chinese style, see our 2006 publication, item 13.

88 89

25

Kyokusai 旭斎 (ac. 1910 – 40)

Flower Basket 花籠

Shōwa Period (1926 – 89), dated 1937

H 17" × L 9 ¼" × W 7"

(43.3 cm × 23.5 cm × 18 cm)

Ikebana flower basket

Susudake bamboo and rattan

Incised signature on the bottom:

Kyokusai saku »Made by Kyokusai«

Box inscription, inside: Hanakago »Flower Basket«

and Kyokusai saku »Made by Kyokusai« with a rect-

angular red seal mark reading Kyokusai. Dated

April, 12th year of Shōwa (=1937).

This elegant masterpiece follows the Sensuji gumi

or thousand-line construction, with parallel rows of

narrow susudake bamboo strips held together by

lines of rattan plaiting. Looking closely, one notices

that Kyokusai cleverly arranged the bamboo strips

so that the nodes appear on the bottom only. This

arrangement keeps the sides smooth without

distracting irregularities and reinforces the pure,

minimalist design.

For a basket of similar shape and construction

using light-colored bamboo, see Japanese Bamboo

Baskets: Masterworks of Form & Texture from the

Collection of Lloyd Cotsen (Los Angeles: Cotsen

Occasional Press, 1999), item number 210, entitled

Magaki or »Fence.«

Kyokusai is believed to have studied under Suzuki

Kyokushōsai 鈴木旭松斎 and to have worked in

Tokyo from the Taishō to early Shōwa periods.

Lacquers

92 93

26

Incense Box with the Full Moon and Nanten

Edo Period (1615 –1868), 18th C

H 1" × L 2 ¾" × W 2 ¾"

(2.3 cm × 6.8 cm × 6.7 cm)

Lacquer box

Box inscriptions:

Kaneda 金田

Hōjuten 宝珠店

»Number nine« 九番

In this evocative autumn view, we see sprays of the

Nanten 南天 (Nadina, Nandina domestica) against

the full moon. The season is indicated by the Nant-

en’s lingering blossoms on its branch tips and by

its reddening berries that fully ripen in late autumn.

With its red fruits, the Nanten became a symbol

of winter, and the red berries are often depicted

by Japanese artists who contrast them against

the white snow. Here, however, the Nanten is used

as a marker of the late autumn. The full moon on

the box is also associated with autumn in Japan, as

it is thought to be most beautiful in that season.

The scene depicts the melancholy moments of ling-

ering beauty, just before the winter sets in.1

The Kōgo incense box is formed in a rounded

square shape and decorated on the top with the

full moon in gold and silver togidashi lacquer.

Around the moon and on the sides of the kōgo are

branches, flowers and berries of the Nanten plant

in gold, silver, red and green hiramakie lacquer.

The insides and the bottom are sprinkled with

small nashiji gold flakes and the rims are created

of pewter.

The kōgō comes with an old fitted kiri-wood box

inscribed on the inside of the cover and on the

bottom with collector’s numbers and marks and the

name of an art shop, the »Shop of the Treasured

Jewels« the Hōjuten 宝珠店.

94 95

27

Writing Box with Fans and Autumn Grasses

Meiji Period (1868 –1912), circa 1900

H 1½" × L 8" × W 7 ¼"

(4 cm × 20.4 cm × 18.4 cm)

Maki-e lacquer box

Inscription (on box top): »Autumn grasses pattern

lacquer writing box« 秋草模様蒔絵硯筥Inscription (on end of box): »Small type writing box,

autumn grasses pattern, received from Mr. Nagata.«

小形硯箱　秋草蒔絵　永田氏ヨリ

The two gold-lacquer fans on the cover of this su-

perb rectangular suzuribako writing box distinct-

ly stand out against the roiro mirror-black ground.

The upper fan is decorated with a scene of chry-

santhemum flowers by a bamboo fence and flow-

ering trees, rocks, waterfall and stream; the lower

fan with a palace building by a garden with pines,

cherry blossoms and fence, all surrounded by gold-

en clouds. The décor is executed in finely-detailed

high-relief takamakie gold, silver and red lacquer

with additional details in hiramakie and togidashi

lacquer and many inlays of irregularly-cut kirigane

gold foil squares and triangles. The curved outside

edges of the box are lacquered in togidashi gold

lacquer; the rims of the box and of the ink stone in-

side are in solid silver.

The writing box contains numerous references to

the literary traditions of courtly Japan, specifically

to those of the Heian period, which was seen by

many as the pinnacle of Japanese cultural achieve-

ments. The décor on the cover refers to a Heian

court tradition, the exchange of fans decorated

with painting or calligraphy.1 The building on the

lower fan is in the Heian period shinden-zukuri

palatial architecture style, with references to Heian

period Tales of Genji paintings, which featured

similar settings with finely tended gardens. As

can be seen in item 2 of the present publication,

scenes from Genji were also painted on folding

screens in the Momoyama and Edo periods and

such compositions would have been familiar to

members of the educated elite.

The veranda of the palace building on the fan,

however, is without its Prince Genji. The stage was

likely left open by the artist to impart a generic

Heian flavor to the composition without anchoring

it to a specific text or scene. Perhaps it was left

open so that the owner of the writing box could im-

agine himself in the role of the Heian-period aris-

tocrat, about to open the box to brush a poem to

a distant lover.

Opening the writing box, one is rewarded with

a dramatic view of a multitude of swaying fall

grasses, the Japanese pampas grass susuki 薄, in

hiramakie gold and silver lacquer with the round

suzuri ink stone representing the full moon. This

inner composition refers to the Autumn Moon

Festival, the Jūgoya 十五夜, which is often symbol-

ized by susuki and the full moon. The festival takes

place on the 15th day of the 8th month of the

lunar calendar (usually mid- to late-September in

the Gregorian calendar), a date that parallels the

autumn equinox in the northern hemisphere. The

traditional food for this festival is the round cake

tsukimi dango 月見団子, which echoes the shape

and color of the distant moon.

The writing box comes complete with the original

two brushes, paper cutter and suiteki water dropper

in the shape of shikishi poetry cards, all lacquered

in togidashi gold lacquer; and with the original kiri-

wood fitted box.

96 97

28

Writing Box with Books

Edo Period (1615 –1868), early 19th C

H 2" × L 9" × W 8 ¼"

(4.9cm × 22.8 cm × 21 cm)

Maki-e lacquer box

Inscriptions (on end of outer box): 1) »Gold lacquer

writing box with books« 本蒔絵硯箱; 2) »Number

seven. Strewn gold flakes and gold lacquer of

books. Writing box, one piece«

七番　なし志　本　のまきへ　すすり箱　一ツ

This exquisitely crafted gold-lacquer suzuribako

writing box, rectangular with rounded corners, is

decorated on the cover with two Japanese books,

placed partly on top of each other, in raised taka-

makie gold lacquer. The top book is decorated

with a dragon in dark clouds, with a multitude of

kirigane gold-foil inlays; the lower book depicts

phoenix roundels and seasonal flower bouquets

in minutely-detailed gold takamakie lacquer on a

diamond-shaped floral pattern in gold and silver

togidashi lacquer. The books each have a title pa-

per in respectively gold and silver foil.

The dramatic design on the inside cover features

a large red sun appearing behind narrow clouds,

rising above craggy rocks in a stormy sea. The sun

is decorated in red and gold togidashi lacquer,

and the clouds and rocks in raised takamakie gold

lacquer with a tour-de-force inlay of kirigane gold

foil pieces cut in irregular squares and triangles.

The ocean waves are depicted in gold and silver

togidashi lacquer with further details of abalone

and aquatic plants in hiramakie gold lacquer. The

removable tray holds the suzuri ink stone and

a rectangular silver suiteki water dropper and is

decorated with more waves in gold and silver

togidashi. Below the tray, on the inside bottom of

the writing box, are fifteen Chidori plover birds in

hiramakie gold lacquer, flying in a circular pattern.

The scene refers to a poem from the famous poetry

anthology, the Kokin wakashū:

The plovers dwelling in Sashide Bay by its the salty

cliffs cry yachiyo, wishing our lord a reign of eight

thousand years.

しほの山さしでの磯にすむ千鳥　君がみ代をばやちよとぞ鳴く1

The elements of plovers, cliffs and the ocean

combine to make a poetic allusion to the wish for

a long rule. The plovers’ cry chiyo, homophonous

with chiyo 千代 »a thousand years« is a call for long

rule. This is changed here by the poet to yachiyo

八千代 »eight thousand years« and, by extension,

eternal rule and a reference to Japan’s Imperial line.

Symbolically the strong cliffs in the design are rulers

steadfast in the stormy sea and the birds are sub-

jects flying in circles around the cliffs, all under the

imposing large red rising sun, the symbol of the

Japanese state. The two book covers of the writing

box, depicting volumes from a poem anthology,

introduce other allusions and symbols: the dragon

rising out of the sky as a symbol of the male ele-

ment and the roundels of phoenix and chrysanthe-

mum as female elements.

The edges of the writing box cover are decorated

with minute karakusa scrolling and diamond pat-

terns in hiramakie gold lacquer. The writing box

comes with its original double fitted storage boxes,

both in black lacquer, the outer one bearing two

inscribed collector’s labels. On the inside of the

storage box is pasted poetry paper with a dyed de-

sign simulating poetry sheets used in Heian-period

calligraphic works.

98 99

29

Zohiko Studio 象彦Tales of Genji Tebako Box

Meiji Period (1868 –1912), circa 1900

H 4 ¼" × L 8 ¾" × W 7 ¼"

(11 cm × 22 cm × 18.5 cm)

Maki-e lacquer box

Inscription on top of box: »Tales of Genji« 源氏物語

Inventory label on the inside cover:

»Reference no. 817. Tebako in the Form of Genji

Books. Collection of the Zōhiko Country Pavilion«

Inscription on storage box: »Tebako box in the

shape of books, ex collection of the Zōhiko Country

Pavilion« 冊子形　蒔絵手箱象彦山荘旧蔵

This outstanding rectangular tebako box simulates

a bound volume of the eleventh-century novel The

Tales of Genji. The books are realistically rendered

with fine lines of silver lacquer to simulate indi-

vidual sheets of paper as well as with a fine mosaic

of mother-of-pearl and kirigane gold foil inlays on

a togidashi gold lacquer ground to simulate the

book binding.

The spectacular book cover, which appears to hold

the seven book volumes together, is decorated

with alternating rectangles of shishi and dragons

in takamakie raised gold lacquer on a togidashi

lacquer ground. The title »Tales of Genji« 源氏物語

is written in takamakie gold lacquer on the cover

on a gold and red lacquer togidashi ground with in-

lays of small kirigane gold foil squares. The gold

lacquer label is especially remarkable as it not only

replicates the calligraphy of the title, »The Tales of

Genji«, but also successfully replicates the complex

dyed-paper slip on which the title seems to have

been written.

Additional details in this quest for realism are the

remarkable mother-of-pearl clasps that seem to

keep the book cover together. The bottom and the

inside of the box are decorated with dense nashiji

gold flakes and the inside cover bears an old inven-

tory label from the Zōhiko studio.

The Zōhiko Studios is one of the oldest lacquer

houses of Japan. Presently under the leadership of

the ninth-generation Nishimura Hikobei 西村彦兵衞

(1931–), the house was established in the year 1661

as the Zōgeya 象牙屋.1 The present lacquer box

was in the storage of the studio for a long time and

had been used as a reference model for creating

other objects.

The tebako comes with a black-lacquered fitted box

that bears an inscribed collector’s mark on the end.

100 101

30

Mikami Yokodo 三上楊光堂Writing Box with the Hundred Kings

Taishō-Shōwa Periods, 1920s – 30s

H 4 ½" × L 10 ¾" × W 8 ¼"

(11.5 cm × 27.5 cm × 21.2 cm)

Maki-e lacquer box

Inscription on outer tomobako box:

»Tebako Box with Images of the Hundred Kings«

手箱 百王之図(end of box):

»Tebako Box with Images of the Hundred Kings«

手筥 百王之図(inside lids):

»Made by Mikami Yōkōdō of Kyoto«

平安 三上楊光堂造之

Seals:

1) Mikami 三上 2) Yōkōdō 楊光堂

On the inside of this fine stacked rectangular writ-

ing box there is a compartment for writing paper

above which is a lipped tray to hold writing utensils

and a removable plate that stores the suzuri ink

stone and suiteki water dropper.

The outside décor is dominated by two dramatic

shishi lions in gold, silver, red and black raised

takamakie lacquer; they are surrounded by stylized

peonies in gold and red lacquer togidashi on a

roiro black lacquer ground. The design on this writ-

ing box has an ancient Chinese origin. The leg-

endary shishi lions were called the »king of hundred

animals 百獣之王« and the peony the »king of

hundred plants 百花之王.«1 Compositions that

depicted both together were deemed auspicious

and were called the »Hundred Kings 百王« design,

as they depicted the gathering of the respective

rulers of the animal and plant kingdoms.

All outside edges are rounded and lacquered

in gold and red lacquer togidashi. The lid rims and

the two rings to hold rope are in solid silver. The

inside rims, including the suzuri ink stone rims are

in silver lacquer; all other surfaces are covered

with evenly sprinkled nashiji gold flakes. The suiteki

water dropper is in the shape of a butterfly and is

made of silver, shibuichi, shakudō, and inlaid gold.

The superb work was made by the lacquer work-

shop Mikami Yōkōdō 三上 楊光堂, which under

the leadership of Mikami Harunosuke 三上治助

(1850 –1920) won many honors, both in Japan as

well as abroad. Objects from the workshop won

prizes at several international exhibitions, includ-

ing Chicago in 1893, Seattle in 1896, and Hanoi

in 1903. The son of the founder, Mikami Jisaburō

三上治三郎 carried on the family tradition and

won a prize at the 1937 Paris exhibition. The art-

ists of the studio were attentive to international art

movements during its time of intensive interaction

with foreign fairs and it is therefore no surprise

that the present writing box bears signs of foreign

influence in its design. Under the leadership of

Mikami Jisaburō 三上治三郎, the studio became a

known leader in introducing Art Nouveau styles to

Japanese audiences in the 1920s, as documented

in the recent exhibition at the Tokyo National

Museum for Modern Art.2

A set of two nested double tomobako boxes were

made for the writing box, both of kiri-wood, the

outside one with lacquer. Both tomobako boxes are

signed and sealed by Mikami of the Yōkōdō Studio.

102 103

Signatures and SealsReproduced actual size

Nr. 4

Nr. 5 Left

Nr. 5 Right

Nr. 6 Nr. 7

Nr. 8Nr. 9

Nr. 10

Nr. 14

Nr. 11

Nr. 12

Nr. 13

104 105

Nr. 19 Nr. 20

Nr. 21 Nr. 24 Nr. 25Nr. 22 Nr. 23

Nr. 17

Nr. 18

Nr. 16

Nr. 15

106 107

Box InscriptionsReproduced half size except as noted

Nr. 10

¹∕¹ size

Nr. 12

¹∕¹ size

Nr. 13

¹∕¹ size

Nr. 20

¹∕¹ size

¹∕¹ size

¼ size

½ size

½ size½ size

½ size

½ size

½ size

¼ size¼ size ¼ size

Nr. 15 ¾ size

¼ size

Nr. 17

½ size

Nr. 19

¼ size

½ size

Nr. 16

¹∕¹ size

Nr. 21

108 109

Nr. 22

Nr. 23

¼ size

Nr. 24

½ size

Nr. 25

¼ size

Nr. 26

¹∕¹ size Nr. 27

Nr. 28

Nr. 29

¹∕¹ size

¹∕¹ size

Nr. 30

½ size

110 111

Nr. 1 Roosters and Chicken in a Bamboo Grove

1 An early example of this communal reclusion

appearing in both literature and art was the Seven

Sages of the Bamboo Grove (竹林七賢 Zhulin qi

xian), a group of semi-legendary, like-minded sages,

who created a small secluded community isolated

from the outside world. The group was composed

of both historical and legendary figures said to have

been active in the third century, A.D. They rejected

the mundane world and gathered in a bamboo

grove to drink wine, play musical instruments, and

carry on lofty conversation. For an early description

of the group, see Liu Yiqing 劉義慶 (403 – 44), Shi

shuo xin yu 『世說新語』 in Richard Mather, ed., Shih-

shuo Hsin-yü: A new account of tales of the world.

2nd ed. Ann Arbor: Center for Chinese Studies,

University of Michigan, 2002, 235 – 6, 399 – 405.

2 For a book-length discussion of such images, see

Kendall Brown. The Politics of Reclusion: Painting

and Power in Momoyama Japan. Honolulu: Univer-

sity of Hawaii, 1997.

3 See examples in Wakisaka Atsushi. Momoyama

kōki no kachō: Kenrantaru taiga II. Series: Kachōga

no sekai, vol. 4. Tokyo: Gakken, 1982, plates 22, 34,

and 35.

Nr. 2 Scenes from the Tales of Genji

1 »Many years may pass, yet one thing will never

change: that my heart is yours, for that I promise

you by the Isle of Orange Trees« From chapter 51

in the Genji. Murasaki Shikibu. The Tale of Genji.

Royall Tyler, trans. 2 vols. New York: Viking, 2001,

p. 1025. See illustrations of this scene, for example,

Akiyama Ken and Eiichi Taguchi. Genji monogatari:

Gōka »Genji-e« no sekai. Tokyo: Gakushū Kenkyūsha,

1988, page 236.

2 »Genji had the page girls go down and roll a

snowball. Their charming figures and hair gleamed

in the moonlight… the moon shone more and more

brightly through the marvelous stillness. She said:

»Frozen into ice, water caught among the rocks

can no longer flow, and it is the brilliant moon that

soars through the sky.« Chapter 20, Tylor 373 – 4.

Illustrated in Akiyama Ken and Eiichi Taguchi.

Genji monogatari: Gōka »Genji-e« no sekai. Tokyo:

Gakushū Kenkyūsha, 1988, pp. 96 – 7.

3 Some artists depict this scene with the bridge,

see Akiyama Ken and Eiichi Taguchi. Genji mono-

gatari: Gōka »Genji-e« no sekai. Tokyo: Gakushū

Kenkyūsha, 1988, p. 236.

4 »The Pilgrimage to Sumiyoshi« Chapter number

14, Murasaki Shikibu. The Tale of Genji. Royall Tyler,

trans. 2 vols. New York: Viking, 2001, pp. 291– 2.

Illustrated in, for example: Akiyama Ken and Eiichi

Taguchi. Genji monogatari: Gōka »Genji-e« no sekai.

Tokyo: Gakushū Kenkyūsha, 1988, p. 79.

5 See the thoughtful article by Melinda Takeuchi

on the cultural meaning of the Uji Bridge in Kuroda

Taizō, et al. Worlds Seen and Imagined: Japanese

Screens from the Idemitsu Museum of Arts. New

York: The Asia Society Galleries, 1995.

6 Miyuki Chapter 29. Murasaki Shikibu. The Tale of

Genji. Royall Tyler, trans. 2 vols. New York: Viking,

2001, p. 499. Illustrated in Akiyama Ken and Eiichi

Taguchi. Genji monogatari: Gōka »Genji-e« no sekai.

Tokyo: Gakushū Kenkyūsha, 1988, p. 143.

7 Chapter 15, Murasaki Shikibu. The Tale of Genji.

Royall Tyler, trans. 2 vols. New York: Viking, 2001,

pp. 308 –10. Illustrated Akiyama Ken and Eiichi

Taguchi. Genji monogatari: Gōka »Genji-e« no sekai.

Tokyo: Gakushū Kenkyūsha, 1988, pp. 80 – 3.

Notes

Nr. 3 Scenes from the Great Eastern Road

1 See: Constantine Vaporis. Breaking Barriers: Travel

and the State in Early Modern Japan. Cambridge,

Mass.: Council on East Asian Studies, Harvard Uni-

versity, 1994.

2 Jippensha Ikku’s Hizakurige. An English translation

by Thomas Satchell is the Shanks’ Mare: Being a

Translation of the Tokaido volumes of »Hizakurige«,

Japan’s Great Comic Novel of Travel and Ribaldry

by Ikku Jippensha (1765 –1831). Tokyo and Rutland,

VT.: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1960.

3 The illustrations are not based on Hiroshige’s

series, although some stations might seem to be

connected, such as Okazaki and Ishiyakushi. These

images are instead based on the compositions in

the 1797 Tōkaidō meisho zue, which, as mentioned

above, served as a model for many of Hiroshige’s

views. See also footnote 5.

4 This was already a famous place in Edo in the

mid-17th century. See the study by Hiraoka Naoki

平岡直樹 and Sasaki Kunihiro 佐々木邦博 »Edo mei-

shoki ni miru 17-seiki nakagoro no Edo no meisho

no tokuchō« 『江戸名所記』に見る17世紀中頃の江戸の名所の特徴. Shinshū Daigaku Nōgakubu Kiyō

信州大学農学部紀要 38,1/2 (2002), pp. 37 – 44

5 A screen in the Berkeley East Asian Library (East

Asian Library call number: Byobu 2 SPEC-Map),

which the university dates to the 17th century,

shows the same mixture of sources. It may well be

that this was a separate tradition that focused on

the screen and hand scroll formats. The Berkeley

screen and the present screen share a number

of compositional features and it is possible that

there is a connection of some kind between

the screens and their artists. For a image of the

Berkeley screen, see the internet site: http://

luna.davidrumsey.com:8380/luna/servlet/detail/

RUMSEY~9~1~23272~50063:Tokaido-dochu-ezu-

byobu--verso---16

Nr. 4 Peacock Pair by Cliffs

1 See an example by Maruyama Ōkyo in: Sasaki

Jōhei, Sasaki Masako, Osaka Shiritsu Bijutsukan

大阪市立美術館, 佐々木丞平,佐々木正子, eds.

Maruyama Ōkyo: Shaseiga sōzō e no chōsen

tokubetsuten 円山応挙: 写生画創造への挑戦特別展.

Tokyo: Mainichi Shinbunsha 每日新聞社, 2003, pp.

198 – 201

2 For other biographical details, see Yui Kazuto

油井一人. Nijusseiki bukko nihongaka jiten 20世紀物故日本画家事典. Tokyo: Bijutsu Nenkansha 美術年鑑社, 1998, p. 18. For the Kampo and the Araki fam-

ily of painters, see also Hitachi-shi Kyōdo Hakubut-

sukan 日立市郷土博物館, ed. Kindai kachōga kō:

Dokugakai, Araki Ichimon no keifu 近代花鳥画考・読画会、荒木一門の系譜. Hitachi 日立: Hitachi-shi

Kyōdo Hakubutsukan 日立市郷土博物館, 2000.

Nr. 5 The Raven and the Peacock

1 Taking the character »Hō 邦« from his teacher.

Kihō’s original name was Hiroaki 廣精, which appears

in the seal on the screen.

2 They are still in museum storage. According to

the database of the University Art Museum, Tokyo

University of the Arts, they are Summer Landscape

夏景山水, hanging scroll, colors on silk, composed

in 1890, 123.8 × 61.3 cm; Two Figures under a Pine,

hanging scroll, colors on paper, 105.7 × 39.0 cm;

and Summer Landscape, hanging scroll, colors on

silk, dated 1893, 80.8 × 155.8 cm. The latter is listed

as his graduation work.

3 Tsunoda Ryūsaku developed the Japanese collec-

tions at Columbia Univeristy’s library and taught

a number of pioneering courses at the university.

Among his many students are figures such as

Donald Keene, who has in turn been key in the

development of Japanese studies in the United

States. Among Tsunoda’s texts is the still-reprinted

112 113

anthology of Japanese texts: Tsunoda Ryusaku,

William Theodore de Bary, and Donald Keene.

Sources of Japanese Tradition. 2 vols. New York:

Columbia University Press, 1958.

4 For example, he makes a visit to the Hōdai’in

宝台院 in Shizuoka Prefecture in 1917. See Tachibana

Yoshiaki 立花義彰 »Shizuoka kindai bijutsu nenpyō,

Taishō hen 静岡近代美術年表 大正編« Shizuokaken

Hakubutsukan Kyōkai Kenkyū Kiyō 静岡県博物館協会研究紀要 29 (2006), 55. For other details, see: Araki

Tadashi 荒木矩. Dai Nihon shoga meika daikan 『大日本書画名家大監』. 4 vols. Original ed.: 1934. Tokyo:

Dai-Ichi Shobō 第一書房, 1991, vol. 2, p. 2489.

Nr. 6 Chinese Landscape with Pagoda

1 Paul Berry and Michiyo Morioka, Literati Modern:

Bunjinga from Late Edo to Twentieth-Century Japan:

The Terry Welch Collection at the Honolulu Academy

of Arts. Honolulu: Honolulu Academy of Arts, 2008,

pp. 170 –1.

2 See Paul Berry and Michiyo Morioka, Modern

Masters of Kyoto, pages 272–3, and their Literary

Modern, pages 170–1 for depictions of two sets

of ink landscape screens that were produced at

around this time, including the pair of screens that

was sent to the Teiten in 1925. This group of works

is further described in a footnote on page 273 of

Modern Masters of Kyoto.

3 For another work with a similar theme, see the

pair of six-panel screens in the 2009 catalog, featur-

ing a winter scene of the Higashiyama district. Here,

too, was a remarkable display of technical abilities,

especially in the virtuosic use of gofun, or sea shell

powder, to imitate snow.

4 Baisen exhibited extensively at the national exhibi-

tions and his work was accepted into every Teiten

exhibition from the very first to the very last and

into all but one Bunten exhibitions, twice with two

entries. For a biography of the artist, see Ōtsu City

Museum of History 大津市歴史博物館, ed. Shirarezaru

Nihon kaiga 知られざる日本絵画 (English title:

Unexplored Avenues of Japanese Painting). Seattle

and Ōtsu: University of Washington Press, Ōtsu

City Museum of History 大津市歴史博物館, 2001,

36, 124, 190; Paul Berry and Michiyo Morioka,

Modern Masters of Kyoto: The Transformation of

Japanese Painting Traditions, Nihonga from the

Griffith and Patricia Way Collection. Seattle: Seattle

Art Museum, 1999, 270 – 3; and Roberts (1976), 43;

and Paul Berry and Michiyo Morioka, Literati Mod-

ern: Bunjinga from Late Edo to Twentieth-Century

Japan: The Terry Welch Collection at the Honolulu

Academy of Arts. Honolulu: Honolulu Academy of

Arts, 2008, pp. 265 – 6.

Nr. 7 Morning Quiet

1 For details, see: Nittenshi Hensan Iinkai 日展史編纂委員会, ed. Nittenshi 日展史. Tokyo: Nitten 日展,

1980 –, vol. 8, p. 117, nr. 181. See also exhibition

labels on the back of the screen.

2 The emphasis on the line in Issan’s work clearly

comes from his two masters of the sketched line.

3 For details on exhibits, see: Nittenshi Hensan Iinkai

日展史編纂委員会. Bunten, Teiten, Shin Bunten,

Nitten zen shuppin mokuroku: Meiji 40-nen--Shōwa

32-nen: Nitten shi shiryō 文展・帝展・新文展・日展全出品目錄: 明治 40年--昭和 32年: 日展史資料. Tokyo:

Nittenshi Hensan Iinkai 日展史編纂委員会, 1990,

vol. 2, p. 24.

4 「いりくんだ菜園を混沌もなく描き得てゐる日本画の本領の優れた点はかういふ時に良く現はれるといふべきだらう」 See his article: »Bunten nihonga tenbō

文展日本画展望« in Oguma Hideo 小熊秀雄.

Oguma Hideo zenshū 小熊秀雄全集. 5 vols. Tokyo:

Sōjusha 創樹社, 1990 –1, vol. 5.

Nr. 8 Flowering Yamabuki

1 Shibuichi (四分一) is a type of metal that can be

patinated into a range of subtle muted shades

of blue or green. The name means literally »one-

fourth« in Japanese and indicates the chemical

formula of one part silver to three parts copper.

2 For list of the exhibitions and other information on

Issan’s career, see the other entry by Issan in this cata-

log and Nittenshi Hensan Iinkai 日展史編纂委員会.

Bunten, Teiten, Shin Bunten, Nitten zen shuppin

mokuroku: Meiji 40-nen--Shōwa 32-nen: Nitten shi

shiryō 文展・帝展・新文展・日展全出品目錄: 明治 40年--昭和 32年: 日展史資料. Tokyo: Nittenshi Hensan

Iinkai 日展史編纂委員会, 1990, vol. 2, p. 24

Nr. 9 Sea Gulls by the Seashore

1 In Tokyo alone, it is estimated that over 140,000

people lost their lives in the Kanto Earthquake and

the resulting fires.

Nr. 10 The Second Patriarch Standing in the Snow

1 For more information on the stories of the early

Zen Patriarchs, see John R. McRae, Seeing through

Zen: Encounter, Transformation, and Genealogy in

Chinese Chan Buddhism. Berkeley: University of

California Press, 2003, and Philip Yampolsky, Ch’an,

a Historical Sketch in Buddhist Spirituality in Later

China, Korea, Japan and the Modern World, edited

by Takeuchi Yoshinori. SCM Press, 1999.

2 As well as for artists: for example, Sesshū Tōyō

雪舟等楊 (1420 –1506) famously painted the scene

of the Second Patriarch bringing his severed arm to

the seated Bodhidharma in a painting from 1496.

3 Besides the present work, only three portraits

have been recorded. Takeuchi Naoji 竹内尚次.

Hakuin 白隠. Tokyo: Chikuma Shoten 筑摩書店,

1964, p. 205, and Hanazono Daigaku Kokusai

Zengaku Kenkyūjo 花園大学国際禅学研究所, ed.

Hakuin zenga bokuseki 白隱禪画墨蹟. 3 vols. Tokyo:

Nigensha 二玄社, 2009, vol. 1, pp188 – 9.

4 See Takeuchi Naoji 竹内尚次. Hakuin 白隠. Tokyo:

Chikuma Shoten 筑摩書店, 1964, appendix, p. 40.

If true, it would mean that the monk painted the

work only a year after receiving his name Hakuin.

5 Takeuchi ordered all Hakuin paintings and cal-

ligraphies into four different periods, in which the

earliest period dates up to the monk’s 56th year.

See Takeuchi Naoji 竹内尚次. Hakuin 白隠. Tokyo:

Chikuma Shoten 筑摩書店, 1964, p. 51.

Nr. 11 Tenjin Traveling to China

1 For more information on this important char-

acter, see the excellent book by Robert Borgen.

Sugawara no Michizane and the Early Heian Court.

Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1994.

2 At least twenty extant Hakuin paintings of Michzane

have been published. See: Hanazono Daigaku

Kokusai Zengaku Kenkyūjo 花園大学国際禅学研究所,

ed. Hakuin zenga bokuseki 白隱禪画墨蹟. 3 vols.

Tokyo: Nigensha 二玄社, 2009, vol 1, pp. 218 –19;

John Stevens. Zenga: Brushstrokes of Enlightenment.

New Orleans: New Orleans Museum of Art, 1990,

pages 124 – 5; Nakamura Gen 中村元, ed. Hakuin Zenji

白隠禅師. Hara 原: Shōinji Temple 松蔭寺, 2000, p. 95;

Tanaka Daisaburō 田中大三郎, ed. Hakuin zenshi

bokusekishu 白隠禅師墨蹟集. Tokyo: Rokugei Shobō

六芸書房, 2006, pl. 50; Hanazono Daigaku Rekishi

Hakubutsukan 花園大学歴史博物館, Yoshizawa

Hatsuhiro 芳澤勝弘, Fukushima Tsunenori 福島恒徳,

Satō Makoto 佐藤誠, eds. Hakuin Zenji to bokuseki:

Shinde Ryūunji Temple Collection 白隠禅師と墨跡・新出龍雲寺コレクション. Kyoto: Hanazono Daigaku

Rekishi Hakubutsukan 花園大学歴史博物館, 2004,

p. 33; Asai Kyōko 浅井京子, ed. Kyū-Tomioka

Bijutsukan shozō: Zen shoga mokuroku 旧富岡美術

114 115

館所蔵・禅書画目録. Tokyo: Waseda University Aizu

Yaichi Memorial Museum 早稲田大学會津八一記念博物館, 2007, page 88; Yamanouchi, Chōzō 山内長三. Hakuin-san no eseppō 白隠さんの絵説法. Tokyo:

Daihō Rinkaku 大法輪閣, 1991, p. 100; Mochizuki

Noboru 望月昇, ed. Hakuin: Zen to shoga 白隠・禅と書画. Kyoto: ADK, 2004, p. 148; Morita, Shiryū 森田子龍, ed. Bokubi Tokushū: Hakuin bokuseki 墨美特集―白隠墨蹟．Collected edition of the issues of the

Bokubi journal numbers 77, 78, 79, and 90, illustrat-

ing the collected works of Hakuin. Kyoto: Bokubisha

墨美社, 1985, pp. 86 and 124; Tanahashi, Kazuaki.

Penetrating Laughter: Hakuin’s Zen & Art. Woodstock,

NY: The Overlook Press, 1984., pl. 30; and Takeuchi,

Naoji 竹内尚次. Hakuin 白隠. Tokyo: Chikuma Shoten

筑摩書店, 1964, pl. 375 – 6.

3 Hakuin appears to have enjoyed using mojie and

there are numerous other examples of his using

the technique with other topics and compositions.

The tradition is old in Japan with examples dating

back to the Heian period. For more on the tradition

and on Hakuin’s mojie paintings, see Audrey Seo.

Painting-Calligraphy Interactions in the Zen Art of

Hakuin Ekaku (1685 –1768). PhD dissertation.

University of Kansas, 1997. For more on Hakuin’s

Michizane paintings, see pages 253 – 5. See also

Yoshizawa Katsuhiro 芳澤勝弘. Hakuin no mojie:

Hitomaro-zō to Totō Tenjin-zō 白隠の文字絵―人丸像と渡唐天神像―. Zen Bunka 禅文化 188 (2003)

4 The text is the Kanshin nissō jueki 菅神入宋授衣記.

It can be found in the nineteenth volume of Gunsho

ruiju 群書類従. A number of other 13th century

texts deal with this narrative, but the above text

seems to be the original one. See article by Yoshizawa

for a more complete discussion.

Nr. 12 The Hakata Top Crossing a String

1 Box, outer inscription on end: »Painting of the

Hakata Top by Sengai« Hakata koma no e Sengai

博多コマノ絵 仙厓

2 For an English-language biography of Sengai,

see Stephen Addiss. The Art of Zen: Paintings and

Calligraphy by Japanese Monks 1600 –1925. New

York: Harry N. Abrams, 1989, pp. 176 – 85.

3 See for example the humorous street performers

in Furuta Shōkin 古田紹欽. Sengai 仙厓. Tokyo:

Idemitsu Bijutsukan 出光美術館, 1985, pp. 102 – 3;

see also Daisetz Suzuki. Sengai: The Zen Master.

London: Faber and Faber, 1971, p. 124.

4 We see Sengai playing with a similar blurring

between elite and common factors in the very

execution of the painting. Here the silk surface has

been left only partly sized, which led to the striking

pattern of ink clots on the surface. Moreover, Sengai

seems to have painted on the top of a tatami panel

division, which left a line intersecting across the

top of the rice bales. This visual clumsiness was not

accidental, as Sengai was thoroughly able to com-

pose careful and skillful images, including works on

a large scale and full-sized six-panel screens. See

the remarkable screens in Takeo Izumi 泉武夫 and

Minakami Tsutomu 水上勉. Sengai, Hakuin 白隱・仙厓. Tokyo: Kōdansha 講談社, 1995, pp. 10 –11,

54 – 9. Sengai’s paintings appear unskillful but this

was clearly an intended effect by the artist. Sengai

was in fact highly skilled and a great deal of experi-

ence and technical abilities stand behind his works.

See for example the interesting article by Nishimura

Nangaku 西村南岳. »Sengai Zenga: Honmono,

nisemono 仙厓禅画・ほんもの、にせもの.« Bokubi

墨美 114 (1962), pp. 5 – 8.

5 Daisetz T. Suzuki. Sengai (1750 –1837). Trans. Eva

von Hoboken. Vienna: Oesterreichisches Museum

für Angewandte Kunst, 1964, plate 5.

6 The catalogue that accompanied the tour fea-

tured the writing of the famous Buddhism scholar

Daisetz T. Suzuki (1870 –1966). Suzuki was an

important author of books and essays on Zen

and Pure Land Buddhism that spread interest in

Buddhism and Eastern Spiritualism to Western

audiences, particularly in the 1950s and 1960s.

Recent scholars have been somewhat more critical

of his role, see, for example, Robert Sharf, »Who’s

Zen: Zen Nationalism Revisited«, in Rude Awaken-

ings: Zen, the Kyoto School & Zen Nationalism,

J. W. Heisig & John Maraldo eds., Nanzen Institute

for Religion and Culture. Honolulu: University of

Hawaii Press, 1995.

7 Two other examples can be seen in Nichibō

shuppansha 日貿出版社, ed. Sengai no zenga:

Satori no bi 仙厓の禪画: 悟りの美. Tokyo: Nichibō

shuppansha 日貿出版社, 1984, plates 84 and 118.

8 Hisamatsu Shin’ichi 久松真一 describes the col-

lecting activities of the monk in his article: »Sengai

no zenfū 仙厓の禪風.« Bokubi 墨美 110 (1961),

pp. 11–16.

Nr. 13 Fire in Edo

1 As for the number of fires for the major cities dur-

ing the 267 years of the Edo period, Osaka had 6

major fires, Kyoto had 9, Kanazawa had 3, and Edo

had 49 major fires. Kuroki Takashi 黒木喬. Edo no kaji

江戸の火事. Dōseisha 同成社, 1999, p. 3.

2 The painting may very well be the depiction of

the great Aoyama Fire 青山火事 of the 24th day of

the first month of 1845, which eventually spread

across the western part of the city, leading to the

destruction of vast tracts of land, including 187

Buddhist temples, and the death of 800 – 900 people.

Hata Ichijirō 畑市次郎. Tōkyō saigai-shi 東京災害史.

Tokyo: Tosei tsūshin sha 都政通信社, 1952, p. 54

3 A number of fire fighting groups were active in

this area. For an overview, see Kuroki Takashi

黒木喬. Edo no kaji 江戸の火事. Dōseisha 同成社,

1999.

4 For the restaurant culture of Edo, see Hans Bjarne

Thomsen, »The Other Hiroshige: Connoisseur of

the Good Life«, Impressions 24 (December, 2002):

pp. 15 – 21 and 48 – 71; and »Food and Art: Hiroshige’s

Restaurant prints in the Elvehjem.« Bulletin of the

Elvehjem Museum of Art, Summer 2002 issue,

pp. 27 – 40.

5 On the second floor we see a drinking party with

a geisha. Interestingly, this information is imparted

through a shadow on a window—that is, through a

shadow of a shadow.

6 The name refers to the ratio of buckwheat flour

(80%) to wheat flour (20%). This was a type of soba

that was favored in Edo and is harder than the type

preferred today. Due to the fear of fire, the type of

traveling soba seller (with his fire and hot cauldron)

that we see on this painting was prohibited in 1799,

but the laws were relaxed in the first decades of

the nineteenth century. By the time this painting

was made, the prohibition was no longer followed.

See: Nagayama Hisao 永山久夫. Tabemono Edo shi

たべもの江戸史. Tokyo: Shin Jinbutsu Oraisha

新人物往来社, 1976.

7 See for example, Itō Shiori 伊藤紫織. »Shini-e to

gachūga: shōzō toshite no shini-e« 死絵と画中画・肖像としての死絵. Journal of Development and Sys-

tematization of Death and Life Studies, Tokyo Univer-

sity 東京大学グローバルプログラム「死生学の展開と組織化」 (2009) pp. 173 – 96; Osaka Municipal Museum

of Art 大阪市立美術館, ed. Tokubetsuten: Shōzō

gasan, hito no sugata hito no kotoba 特別展・肖像画賛＝人のすがた、人のことば. Osaka: Osaka Municipal

Museum of Art 大阪市立美術館, 2000, pl. 123; and

Timon Screech. The Western Scientific Gaze and

Popular Imagery in Later Edo Japan: The Lens within

the Heart. Cambridge, New York and Melbourne:

Cambridge University Press, 1996, pp. 113 –16.

8 This temple, also called the Sasadera 笹寺, was

one of the best known temples in the city and a

place for cultural meetings. It was illustrated by

Hasegawa Settan (1778 –1843) in the Edo meishi

zue book series, initially published in 1834 with

116 117

volumes 1– 3 (a total of 10 books) and republished

in 1836 with volumes 4 – 7 (a total of 20 books). The

temple, located in Yotsuya, was founded in 1575.

9 He is listed in a number of contemporary bio-

graphical dictionaries featuring cultural figures of

the time, for example: Ansei bungajin meiroku

安政文雅人名録 from 1860.

Nr. 14 Waterfall

1 See, for example, an example of a hanging scroll

over 3.6 meters in length in Sasaki Jōhei, Sasaki

Masako, Osaka Shiritsu Bijutsukan 大阪市立美術館,

佐々木丞平, 佐々木正子, eds. Maruyama Ōkyo:

Shaseiga sōzō e no chōsen tokubetsuten 円山応挙:

写生画創造への挑戦特別展. Tokyo: Mainichi Shin-

bunsha 每日新聞社, 2003, p. 159

2 The details do not stop at the painted surface.

Looking closely, one can see that the silk strips

(ichimonji) above and below the painting has a

décor of waves and clouds and function as an

extension of the painted scene.

3 For biographical details, see Yui Kazuto 油井一人.

Nijusseiki bukko nihongaka jiten 20 世紀物故日本画家事典. Tokyo: Bijutsu Nenkansha 美術年鑑社,

1998, pp. 382 – 3.

Nr. 15 The Snow of Kamogawa River

1 The name of the Matsubara Bridge is also written

on the inscription at the end of the box. The address

is given there as »Miyagawa 7-chō«, a shortening of

the name Miyagawasuji. The present address is the

sixth ward and not the seventh, perhaps a mistake

by the artist. The bridge is unchanged to this day and

there are still places for nocturnal entertainment

on the other side of the river.

2 The album is noted in Nittenshi Hensan Iinkai

日展史編纂委員会. Bunten, Teiten, Shin Bunten,

Nitten zen shuppin mokuroku: Meiji 40-nen--Shōwa

32-nen: Nitten shi shiryō 文展・帝展・新文展・日展全出品目錄: 明治 40年--昭和 32年: 日展史資料.

Tokyo: Nittenshi Hensan Iinkai 日展史編纂委員会,

1990, vol. 2, p. 28. See also: Paul Berry and Michiyo

Morioka, Literati Modern: Bunjinga from Late Edo

to Twentieth-Century Japan: The Terry Welch Col-

lection at the Honolulu Academy of Arts. Honolulu:

Honolulu Academy of Arts, 2008, p. 265.

3 This pair of screens, Kyoto in the Winter, is depicted

and described in our 2009 publication, item 5.

4 For a two-panel screen with a Chinese scene

from the mid 1910’s, see the present publication,

item 6.

5 The use of gofun on the reverse side of a painting

is a technique used much earlier in Buddhist paint-

ings. The painter Itō Jakuchū (1716 –1800) also used

the technique in some of his finest paintings.

6 For another work with a similar theme, see the

pair of six-panel screens in the 2009 publication,

item 5, featuring a winter scene of the Higashiyama

district. Here, too, was a remarkable display of

technical abilities, especially in the virtuosic use of

gofun to depict falling snow.

7 Baisen’s later works were criticized by some of

his contemporary critics, who characterized him

as an artist who peaks early and then levels off to

mediocrity. In retrospect this seems highly unde-

served, as the works of the mature artist are just as

imaginative as the earlier, though not in an openly

demonstrative manner. A reappraisal of the artist’s

career and his role of twentieth century Nihonga

movement are clearly needed. For one thing, his

remarkable success at national exhibitions is hard

to deny: his work was accepted into every Teiten

exhibition from the first to the very last and into all

but one Bunten exhibitions, twice with two entries.

For short but useful biographies with paintings of

this artist, see Ōtsu City Museum of History 大津市歴史博物館, ed. Shirarezaru Nihon kaiga 知られざる日本絵画 (English title: Unexplored Avenues of

Japanese Painting). Seattle and Ōtsu: University of

Washington Press, Ōtsu City Museum of History

大津市歴史博物館, 2001, 36, 124, 190; Paul Berry

and Michiyo Morioka, Modern Masters of Kyoto:

The Transformation of Japanese Painting Traditions,

Nihonga from the Griffith and Patricia Way Collection.

Seattle: Seattle Art Museum, 1999, 270 – 3; and

Roberts (1976), 43.

8 See examples of the former in McKelway, Matthew,

Capitalscapes: Folding Screens and Political Imagi-

nation in Late Medieval Kyoto. Honolulu: Hawaii

University Press, 2006.

Nr. 16 New Year with Small Pines and a Pair of

Cranes

1 See for example, the famous pair of crane

paintings by Wen Cheng (ac. 15th century) in the

Daitokuji Temple and the later adaptations by Itō

Jakuchū (1716 –1800) in Money L Hickman and

Yasuhiro Satō. The Paintings of Jakuchū. New York:

Asia Society Galleries, 1989, pp. 36 – 7.

2 In addition, the tradition of displaying young pine

seedlings—the so-called kadomatsu—at house en-

trances at New Year became a Japanese tradition.

3 See details of his life in the following publications:

Yui Kazuto 油井一人. Nijusseiki bukko nihongaka

jiten 20世紀物故日本画家事典. Tokyo: Bijutsu Nenk-

ansha 美術年鑑社, 1998, pp. 430 –1; Ellen P. Conant,

et al., Nihonga, Transcending the Past: Japanese

Style Painting, 1868 –1968. Saint Louis: The Saint

Louis Art Museum and The Japan Foundation,

1995, p. 329; and Ōtsu City Museum of History

大津市歴史博物館, ed. Shirarezaru Nihon kaiga

知られざる日本絵画 (English title: Unexplored

Avenues of Japanese Painting). Seattle and Ōtsu:

University of Washington Press, Ōtsu City Museum

of History 大津市歴史博物館, 2001, pp. 160 –1.

Nr. 17 Set of Three Lacquer Paintings with Carps

1 A number of paintings of carps were painted by

Maruyama Ōkyo, who also specialized in waterfall

paintings. He famously created an image of the

climbing koi partly obscured by the streams of fall-

ing water. Mitsuzane clearly refers to these painting

and then recreates them in the medium of lacquer.

For images of both types of carps by Ōkyo, see

for example Sasaki Jōhei, Sasaki Masako, Osaka

Shiritsu Bijutsukan 大阪市立美術館, 佐々木丞平,佐々木正子, eds. Maruyama Ōkyo: Shaseiga sōzō e no

chōsen tokubetsuten 円山応挙: 写生画創造への挑戦特別展. Tokyo: Mainichi Shinbunsha 每日新聞社,

2003, p. 27.

2 Another work by this talented artist, a standing

lacquer screen with an image of a carp, can be

seen in our 2007 publication, item 30.

3 Nittenshi Hensan Iinkai 日展史編纂委員会. Bunten,

Teiten, Shin Bunten, Nitten zen shuppin mokuroku:

Meiji 40-nen--Shōwa 32-nen: Nitten shi shiryō 文展・帝展・新文展・日展全出品目錄: 明治 40年--昭和 32年:

日展史資料. Tokyo: Nittenshi Hensan Iinkai 日展史編纂委員会, 1990, vol. 2, p. 108.

4 See: Sannomaru Shōzōkan 三の丸尚蔵館, ed. Iwai

no bi: Taishōki kōshitsu gokeiji no shinajina 祝美大正期皇室御慶事の品々. Tokyo: Kunaichō 宮内庁, 2007

Nr. 18 A Cat in a Melon Patch

1 The process was originally developed by Rimpa

school artists, such as Ogata Kōrin, but was ad-

opted by the Nihonga school in the early twentieth

century. Kōsui takes the process to new levels, for

example, even his signature on the top right of the

painting is created in ink mixed with gold.

118 119

2 For biographical details, see: Yui Kazuto 油井一人.

Nijusseiki bukko nihongaka jiten 20世紀物故日本画家事典. Tokyo: Bijutsu Nenkansha 美術年鑑社,

1998, p. 196. Some of the artist names he used

include Keimei 契明, Deigyū 泥牛, and Kōrin 晃林.

3 See biographical information on Keisen: Paul

Berry and Michiyo Morioka, Literati Modern: Bunjinga

from Late Edo to Twentieth-Century Japan: The

Terry Welch Collection at the Honolulu Academy of

Arts. Honolulu: Honolulu Academy of Arts, 2008,

pp. 306 – 8; for Keigetsu, see: Kyoto City Museum

京都市美術館, ed. Kikuchi Keigetsu to sono keifu

菊池契月とその系譜. Kyoto: Kyoto Shimbunsha

京都新聞社, 1999.

4 For some of the national exhibitions he was part

of, see: Nittenshi Hensan Iinkai 日展史編纂委員会.

Bunten, Teiten, Shin Bunten, Nitten zen shuppin

mokuroku: Meiji 40-nen--Shōwa 32-nen: Nitten shi

shiryō 文展・帝展・新文展・日展全出品目錄: 明治 40

年--昭和 32年: 日展史資料. Tokyo: Nittenshi Hensan

Iinkai 日展史編纂委員会, 1990, vol. 2, p. 18.

Nr. 19 Daruma Portrait

1 Three Daruma portraits from 1914 and 1917 are

depicted in: The National Museum of Modern Art,

Kyoto 京都国立近代美術館 and Chikkyō Art Museum,

Kasaoka 笠岡市立竹喬美術館, eds. Tsuji Kakō Ex-

hibition 都路華香展. Kasaoka 笠岡 and Kyoto 京都:

The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto 京都国立近代美術館 and Chikkyō Art Museum, Kasaoka

笠岡市立竹喬美術館, 2006, pp. 96 and 106 – 7

2 This is a common way to depict the patriarch; see

for example Daruma paintings by various artists

in: Asai Kyōko 浅井京子, ed. Kyū-Tomioka Bijutiskan

shozō: Zen shoga mokuroku 旧富岡美術館所蔵・禅書画目録. Tokyo: Waseda University Aizu Yaichi

Memorial Museum 早稲田大学會津八一記念博物館,

2007

3 One of the last paintings brushed by Kakō was

a portrait of this monk. For details, see: Paul Berry

and Michiyo Morioka, Literati Modern: Bunjinga

from Late Edo to Twentieth-Century Japan: The Terry

Welch Collection at the Honolulu Academy of Arts.

Honolulu: Honolulu Academy of Arts, 2008, p. 266.

See also: Ellen P. Conant, et al., Nihonga, Transcend-

ing the Past: Japanese Style Painting, 1868 –1968.

Saint Louis: The Saint Louis Art Museum and The

Japan Foundation, 1995, p. 328.

4 For biographical information on the artist, see the

following texts: Michiyo Morioka, »A Reexamination

of Tsuji Kakō’s Art and Career« in Paul Berry and

Michiyo Morioka, Modern Masters of Kyoto: The

Transformation of Japanese Painting Traditions,

Nihonga from the Griffith and Patricia Way Collection.

Seattle: Seattle Art Museum, 1999, 40 – 54. See

also references in Ellen P. Conant, et al., Nihonga,

Transcending the Past: Japanese Style Painting,

1868 –1968. Saint Louis: The Saint Louis Art Museum

and The Japan Foundation, 1995; and Ōtsu City

Museum of History 大津市歴史博物館, ed. Shirarezaru

Nihon kaiga 知られざる日本絵画 (English title: Unex-

plored Avenues of Japanese Painting). Seattle and

Ōtsu: University of Washington Press, Ōtsu City Mu-

seum of History 大津市歴史博物館, 2001. See also

Paul Berry and Michiyo Morioka, Literati Modern:

Bunjinga from Late Edo to Twentieth-Century Japan:

The Terry Welch Collection at the Honolulu Academy

of Arts. Honolulu: Honolulu Academy of Arts, 2008,

pp. 265 – 6.

Nr. 20 Hearing Nothing, Seeing Nothing

1 All three seals were used on or around Nantembō’s

eighty-fifth year. See Matthew Welch, The Paintings

and Calligraphy of the Japanese Zen Priest Tōjū

Zenshū, Alias Nantembō (1839 –1925). PhD disser-

tation, University of Kansas, 1995, Appendix Two.

2 Also Romanized as »sanjitsu jirō« and »mijirō.«

See for example, Yokoi Yūhō, The Japanese English

Buddhist Dictionary (Tokyo: Sankibō Buddhist Book

Store, 1991), pp. 580 –1

3 Jingde chuandenglu (Japanese: Keitoku dentōroku)

『景徳伝燈録』 (Shanghai: Shang wu yin shu guan,

1935).

4 See Welch, ibid, page 136.

5 See Stephen Addiss. The Art of Zen. New York:

Harry Abrams, 1989, p. 191.

Nr. 22 Maeda Chikubōsai I

1 For three more examples of his work, see our

2006 publication, item12; the 2007 publication,

item17; and the 2009 publication, item16.

Nr. 23 Tanabe Chikuunsai I

1 For four other examples of baskets by Chikuunsai II,

see our 2006 publication, items nr.14 and nr.15; the

2007 publication, item 20; and the 2008 publica-

tion, item19.

Nr. 26 Incense Box with Nanten and the Full Moon

1 For information on the Nadina, see: Terashima

Ryōan 寺島良安, Wakan sansai zue 和漢三才図絵.

2 vols. Tokyo: Tokyo Bijutsu 東京美術, 1970, vol. 2,

p. 1198.

Nr. 27 Writing Box with Fans and Autumn Grasses

1 For many fine examples of Genji-related fans, see:

Murasaki Shikibu. Le dit du Genji: Genji monogatari:

Illustré par la peinture traditionnelle japonaise du

XIIe au XVIIe siècle. 3 vols. Paris: D. de Selliers, 2007.

Nr. 28 Writing Box with Books

1 Kokin wakashū 古今和歌集, poem number 345.

Based on the translation in Helen Craig McCullough,

Kokin wakashū: the First Imperial Anthology of

Japanese Poetry: with Tosa nikki and Shinsen waka.

Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1985, p. 83.

Nr. 29 Tales of Genji Tebako Box

1 The store is presently located in the Okazaki area

of Kyoto, which is also the location of period exhi-

bitions of objects from the storage collections of

the studio. There is also a major store in Tokyo in

the Nihonbashi area.

Nr. 30 Writing Box with the Hundred Kings

1 See also the 18th century dictionary Wakan

sansai zue 和漢三才図絵、which lists the Shishi lion

as the »leader of one hundred animals 百獣ノ長.«

See: Terashima Ryōan 寺島良安, Wakan sansai zue

和漢三才図絵. 2 vols. Tokyo: Tokyo Bijutsu 東京美術,

1970, vol. 1, p. 437.

2 See the items by Mikami Jisaburō 三上治三郎 and

the studio in the recent important catalogue: Tokyo

National Museum for Modern Art 東京国立近代美術館.

Nihon no āru nūvō 1900--1923: kōgei to dezain no

shinjidai (Art Nouveau in Japan 1900--1923: The New

Age of Crafts and Design) 日本のアール・ヌーヴォー1900--1923 工芸とデザインの新時代. Tokyo: Tōkyō

Kokuritsu Kindai Bijutsukan, 2005.

120 121

Addiss, Stephen and Audrey Seo. The Art of

Twentieth-Century Zen: Painting and Calligraphy by

Japanese Masters. Boston and London: Shambhala,

1998

Addiss, Stephen. The Art of Zen: Paintings and

Calligraphy by Japanese Monks, 1600 –1925. New

York: Harry N. Abrams, 1989.

Akiyama Ken and Eiichi Taguchi. Genji monogatari:

Gōka »Genji-e« no sekai. Tokyo: Gakushū

Kenkyūsha, 1988.

Araki Tadashi 荒木矩. Dai Nihon shoga meika taikan

大日本書画名家大鑑. 4 vols. Reprinted ed. Tokyo:

Daiichi Shobō 第一書房, 1991.

Asai Kyōko 浅井京子, ed. Kyū-Tomioka Bijutsukan

shozō: Zen shoga mokuroku 旧富岡美術館所蔵・禅書画目録. Tokyo: Waseda University Aizu Yaichi

Memorial Museum 早稲田大学會津八一記念博物館,

2007.

Berry, Paul and Michiyo Morioka. Literati Modern:

Bunjinga from Late Edo to Twentieth-Century

Japan: The Terry Welch Collection at the Honolulu

Academy of Arts. Honolulu: Honolulu Academy of

Arts, 2008.

Berry, Paul and Michiyo Morioka. Modern Masters

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Brown, Kendall and Sharon Minichiello. Taishō Chic:

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126 127

Index

Nr. Page Artist Title Description Date Size

Screens

1 6 Kano School

狩野派

Roosters and Chicken

in a Bamboo Grove

Pair of six-panel folding screens. Ink, colors,

gofun, gold and gold leaf on paper.

Edo Period

early 17th C

H 64 ¾" × W 133 ½"

(164.5 cm × 339 cm) each

2 12 Tosa Mitsuyoshi

土佐光吉

Scenes from the Tales

of Genji

Six-panel folding screen. Ink, mineral colors,

gofun, silver, gold and gold leaf on paper.

Momoyama Period

early 17th C

H 63 ½" × W 146 ½"

(161.3 cm × 372.3 cm)

3 16 Unknown artist Scenes from the Great

Eastern Road

Pair of six-panel folidng screens. Ink, mineral

colors, gofun, gold flakes and gold leaf on paper.

Edo Period

circa 1800

H 49 ¾" × W 117 ½"

(126.5 cm × 298.5 cm) each

4 22 Araki Kampo

荒木寛畆

Peacock Pair by Cliffs Two-panel folding screen. Ink, colors, gold and

gold-leaf on silk.

Meiji Period

dated 1907

H 76 ¾" × W 75 ¾"

(195 cm × 192.4 cm)

5 26 Usumi Kihō

内海輝邦

The Raven and the

Peacock

Pair of six-panel folidng screens. Ink, mineral

colors, gofun, gold, silver, lacquer and silver leaf

on paper.

Taishō Period

circa 1920

H 69" × W 136 ¼"

(175 cm × 346 cm) each

6 32 Hirai Baisen

平井 楳仙

Chinese Landscape

with Pagoda

Two-panel folding screen. Ink and colors on

paper.

Taishō Period

1925

H 68" × W 74 ¾"

(173 cm × 189.7 cm)

7 36 Nakatsuka Issan

中塚一杉

Morning Quiet Two-panel folding screen. Ink, colors and gofun

on silk.

Shōwa Period

1927

H 70 ½" × W 90"

(179.3 cm × 228.6 cm)

8 40 Nakatsuka Issan

中塚一杉

Flowering Yamabuki Two-panel folding screen. Ink, colors and gofun

on silk.

Shōwa Period

circa 1930

H 78 ¼" × W 82"

(199 cm × 208 cm)

9 44 Sōju

双樹

Sea Gulls by the

Seashore

Two-panel folding screen. Ink, colors, gofun and

silver on paper.

Taishō Period

1920s

H 69 ¼" × W 68 ¾"

(175.8 cm × 174.8 cm)

Paintings

10 50 Hakuin Ekaku

白隠慧鶴

The Second Patriarch

Standing in the Snow

Hanging scroll. Ink on paper. Edo Period

circa 1725

H 65" × W 15 ¾"

(165 cm × 40 cm)

11 54 Hakuin Ekaku

白隠慧鶴

Tenjin Traveling to

China

Hanging scroll. Ink on paper. Edo Period

circa 1760

H 41¼" × 8 ¼"

(104.5 cm × 21.1 cm)

12 58 Sengai Gibon

仙厓義梵

The Hakata Top

Crossing a String

Hanging scroll. Ink on silk. Edo Period

circa 1820

H 49 ½" × 24 ¾"

(126 cm × 62.6 cm)

13 60 Kishi Chōzen

岸長善

Fire in Edo Hanging scroll. Ink and light colors on paper. Edo Period

circa 1845

H 89 ¼" × 29"

(227 cm × 73.7 cm)

14 64 Mochizuki Gyokusen

望月玉泉

Waterfall Hanging scroll. Ink and silver on silk. Meiji Period

circa1900

H 92 ¾" × 28 ¼"

(235.5 cm × 71.8 cm)

15 66 Hirai Baisen

平井 楳仙

The Snow of

Kamogawa River

Hanging scroll. Ink, colors and gofun on silk. Taishō Period

dated 1917

H 85" × 22"

(216 cm × 55.8 cm)

16 68 Watanabe Shōtei

渡辺省亭

New Year with Small

Pines and a Pair of

Cranes

Hanging scroll. Ink, color and lacquer on silk. Meiji Period

circa1910

H 75 ½" × 20 ¾"

(192 cm × 52.6 cm)

17 70 Tojima Mitsuzane

戸島光孚

Set of Three Lacquer

Paintings with Carps

Set of 3 hanging scrolls. Lacquer, light color and

ink on silk.

Shōwa Period

dated 1929

H 83 ¼" × 21 ¾"

(211.5 cm × 55.2 cm) each

Nr. Page Artist Title Description Date Size

18 72 Sano Kōsui

佐野光穂

A Cat in a Melon Patch Hanging scroll. Ink, colors and gold on silk. Taishō Period

circa 1925

H 85" × 26"

(216 cm × 65.8 cm)

19 74 Tsuji Kakō

都路華杳

Daruma Portrait Hanging scroll. Ink and colors on paper. Taishō Period

circa 1915

H 84 ¾" × 23"

(215 cm × 58.2 cm)

20 76 Nakahara Nantembō

中原南天榛

Hearing Nothing,

Seeing Nothing

Hanging scroll. Ink on satin. Taishō Period

dated 1923

H 80" × 26 ½"

(203 cm × 67 cm)

Bamboo Baskets

21 80 Yamamoto Chikuryūsai

山本竹龍斎

Boat-Shaped Wide

Basket

Ikebana flower basket. Madake bamboo,

Hōbichiku bamboo and rattan.

Taishō Period

dated 1916

H 15 ¼" × L 20 ¾" × W 11¼"

(38.5 cm × 52.5 cm × 28.5 cm)

22 82 Maeda Chikubōsai I

前田竹房斎 初代

Wide-Mouthed Flower

Basket

Ikebana flower basket.Madake bamboo,

Hōbichiku bamboo and rattan.

Shōwa Period

dated 1942

H 19 ½", D 10"

(49.5 cm, 25.5 cm)

23 84 Tanabe Chikuunsai I

田辺竹雲斎 初代

Crouching Tiger Ikebana flower basket. Kinmeichiku bamboo,

Hōbichiku bamboo and Madake bamboo.

Shōwa Period

1920s

H 17 ¾", D 10 ¾"

(45 cm, 27cm)

24 86 Morita Chikuami

森田竹阿弥

Flared Flower Basket Ikebana flower basket. Hōbichiku smoked

bamboo and rattan.

Shōwa Period

1930s

H 19", D 10 ¼"

(48.5 cm, 26 cm)

25 88 Kyokusai

旭斎

Flower Basket Ikebana flower basket. Susudake bamboo and

rattan.

Shōwa Period

dated 1937

H 17" × L 9 ¼" × W 7"

(43.3 cm × 23.5 cm × 18 cm)

Lacquers

26 92 Anonymous Incense Box with the

Full Moon and Nanten

Lacquer box Edo Period

18th C

H 1" × L 2 ¾" × W 2 ¾"

(2.3 cm × 6.8 cm × 6.7 cm)

27 94 Anonymous Writing Box with Fans

and Autumn Grasses

Maki-e lacquer box Meiji Period

circa1900

H 1½" × L 8" × W 7 ¼"

(4 cm × 20.4 cm × 18.4 cm)

28 96 Anonymous Writing Box with

Books

Maki-e lacquer box Edo Period

early 19th C

H 2" × L 9" × W 8 ¼"

(4.9cm × 22.8 cm × 21 cm)

29 98 Zōhiko Studio

象彦

Tales of Genji Tebako

Box

Maki-e lacquer box Meiji Period

circa1900

H 4 ¼" × L 8 ¾" × W 7 ¼"

(11 cm × 22 cm × 18.5 cm)

30 100 Mikami Yōkōdō

三上楊光堂

Writing Box with the

Hundred Kings

Maki-e lacquer box Taishō-Shōwa Periods

1920s – 30s

H 4 ½" × L 10 ¾" × W 8 ¼"

(11.5 cm × 27.5 cm × 21.2 cm)

131

Erik Thomsen 2010

Japanese Paintings and Works of Art

© 2010 Erik Thomsen

Text based on research by Prof. Hans Bjarne Thomsen (item 1– 20, 26 – 30)

Photography: Cem Yücetas

Design and Production: Valentin Beinroth

Printing: Henrich Druck + Medien GmbH, Frankfurt am Main

Printed in Germany

Cover:

Scenes from the Great Eastern Road

Detail, pair of six-panel folding screens (item 3)

Edo Period (1615 –1868), circa 1800