BackNo.85
JANUARY 1939
This summary is compiled by Mr. TAKASHI KATSUKI.
KOETSU'S SHIKISHI ALBUMS IN THE EAST ASIATIC COLLECTION, BERLIN
BY PROF. YUKIO YASHIRO
The present two albums of Koetsu's shikishis which are believed to have originally been mounted as screens were known among connoisseurs while they were still in a private collection in Japan. The albums, however, were bought by Prof. Otto Kuemmel, Director-general of State Museum, Berlin, in 1908, and are now in the possession of the East Asiatic Collection in Berlin; the loss of the works to Japan has been much deplored. Prof. Yashiro, having seen these important works on his several visits to the same museum, felt it necessary to introduce them to his countrymen and he was enabled to do so, having been given good photographs of them by Prof. Kuemmel on his visit to this country sometime ago, together with detailed notes prepared by Dr. Leopold Reidemeister, Keeper of the Collection.
The discussion taken up in the present paper is centered around the following three points: the literary sources of the poems written on these shikishis; Koetsu, the calligrapher who wrote the poems; and Sotatsu, the artist who is supposed to have painted the pictures.
On each shikishi, thirty-six altogether, a poem selected from an old Japanese anthology called the Shin-kokin-shu is written on the painted ground. The number, thirty-six, makes us associate these shikishis with works of the Thirty-Six poets, famous in Japanese literature, but to all appearance they have nothing to do with them. As this number, thirty-six, has no meaning at all, these shikishis might not have made one complete group, and Prof. Yashiro in his foot-note mentions some other shikishis of a similar kind which possibly might have formed part of a large group together with the Berlin shikishis.
Of the calligraphy by Koetsu a general study of its development during his life-time is neeessary in order to give an approximate date to the present work; of the paintings which are attributed to Sotatsu the relationship between Koetsu and Sotatsu must be elucidated. Of these two imhertant problems the present writer goes into detailed studies but only the conclusion in connection with the present albums will be introduced here.
The calligraphy on the shikishis, according to the present writer, is thought to have been written by Koetsu at a time not far from the Genna Era (1615-1623) when he was about sixty years old. It was the first year of the same era that Koetsu and his kinsfolk were settled in Takagamine on the outskirts of Kyoto, on an estate given by Shogun Ieyasu. There he devoted himself to art, founding an artists, village on the premises. The style of the present handwriting is extremely fluent showing the attainment of full development but these works reveal no characteristic features of his later works done after the age of seventy. Comparing the present shikishis to two other celebrated examples by the same artist, the "Scroll of Deer" of Baron Masuda and the "Scroll of Flowers" of Baron Dan, the present work, speaking from the style of the handwriting, apparently falls between them. As the former of those is attributed to a time previous to his retirement to Takagamine and the latter after that, the Berlin shikishis would justly be attributed to the Genna Era or thereabout.
The relation of Sotatsu and Koetsu has long been under dispute but the aforementioned two scrolls show definite grounds of having been pictorially painted by Sotatsu. Therefore, there must have existed friendly relations between the two great masters at the time when these scrolls were conjointly produced, that is, just before or after Koetsu's removal to Takagamine. This fact points to a conclusion that the present shikishis were also painted by Sotatsu and inscribed by Koetsu at about the same period and this conclusion is also supported by the style and the artistic character of the work.
The present author, however, carefully refrains from assuming the final decision as he has not seen the Berlin shikishi for some years and he wishes to study them again in the original before he decides such important questions.
ARTISTS' SEALS ON OLD PAINTINGS
BY KISAKU TANAKA
On the Oriental paintings produced after the Ashikaga Period are frequently found the seals which are generally supposed to be those of the artists. The seals are also accompanied with the so-called signatures of the artists. Beside these latter, however, more than half of the paintings done in this country in the Ashikaga and the ensuing Momoyama and Tokugawa Periods bear merely seals. These seals have been regarded seriously by those who judged the authenticity of the works, and whether, or not, the seals are identical was most important.
We have frequently been bewildered by the facts: 1) that the seals shown on two different works are not identical although both these works, judging from the style, were apparently executed by the same hand; 2) on the other hand, the seals are identical but the paintings were done by different artists. The present author came across recently a case of the latter of which the artist is thought to be a Chinese. The same is also true of Japanese paintings by the well-known artists of the Ashikaga, Momoyama and Tokugawa Perids, which examples are referred to in the present paper.
As a matter of fact differing seals which are of the same type are often seen on paintings by many artists. In corroboration of this fact the present writer quotes an experience of his friend who, investigating the intaglio seals of Sesshu (read Toyo), discovered more than seventy different kinds of seals and his effort seemed to be endless. The main point of the present paper is to bring forward, under these circumstances, the most important question pertaining to the painters' seals on paintings in general.
When and why were these various sleals applied to the paintings? Although there is no documental evidence of any painting on which the artist's seal was stamped after he died the principal one may be imputed to the collector's desire of having them with some kind of objective proof concerning the artist, especially as the economical value of the paintings increased. It seems, that this tendericy strengthened after the beginning of the Tokugawa Period, as attested to in the frequent publications of artists, biographies, of the facsimiles of seals, and the excessive issues of certificates by experts concerning paintings.
Among the so-called sketchy copies in reduced size of paintings, owned by Kano, Sumiyoshi and other families, are several thousands copies which were done by a single artist. This surprising fact leads us to imagine that almost all pictures of the past might have been examined by some experts.
Accordingly, that the seals were applied to the paintings later on is conjectured to have been possible. For instance, the use of seals left by an artist, on his works by his decendants to furnish authenticity upon request is considered rather natural. The forgery of artists, seals by professional art appraisers and the employment of forged ones on various works are also known to exist.
As a matter of fact, among the remaining seals which were once used by a certain famous painter of the Tokugawa Period are found those of the other artist who lived at another time.
In the frequent issues of books of facsimiles of artists' seals, which were strange phenomena in the art history the Tokugawa Period, the compilation was inevitably concerned with the existence of forged seals. Thus, the use of numerous forged seals would have come into vogue without any malicious intention and there is no other way to solve the question.
Thus, the problems concerning the paintings with seals of the same type but apparently done by different hands or vice versa may be understood as well as the artists' seals on paintings in general.
The present writer does not believe that there now remain no paintings hearing the original seals of artists; neverthess how many works among the extant examples Produced during the Ashikaga down through the Tokugawa Periods do verify the case?
It is most dangerous to consider the seals which are shown on two different works by the same artist to have originally been stamped by himself simply for the reason that the seals correspond exactly to each other. If the works were painted by famous artists, therefore, the importance of artists' seals will be more diminished. In the long run, the final criterion with which to judge paintings depends entirely on their styles, asserts the present writer.
GAKl (DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE OF CHINESE AND JAPANESE PAINTINGS IN KYOTO), COMPlLED BY RIN ROEN IN AN-El ERA (1772-1780). REPRINTED FROM THE ORIGINAL MSS.
The present old manuscripts in book form, now in the library of Mr. Kou Aimi, was compiled by Rin Roen. This book bearing a postscript written by the author consists of a descriptive catalogue of Chinese and Japanese paintings owned by the famous five great Zen temples, that is, Nanzenji, Tenryuji, Sokokuji, Kenninji and Daitokuji; it also includes those of many other sects including one painting owned by a private collector, all in Kyoto at that time. Rin visited these temples with a priest, Imei Shukei, of Sokokuji and saw the paintings while he was engaged in repairing the paintings on fusuma of Sokokuji for several years during the An-ei Era.
A few years after the book was compiled a conflagration razed Kyoto to the ground and the paintings destroyed among those listed in the catalogue were not few. But a similar type of art catalogue (Jisha-homotsu-tenetsu-mokuroku) was compiled by different authors about fifteen yeatrs later. Accordingly, the comparison of these two catalogues reveal to us interesting facts concerning the items listed in them.
Rin Roen or Hayashi Shin was an artist of the Nanga School in Osaka, being a pupil of Fukuhara Gogaku and is believed to have died at about the age of forty. The priest, Imei Shukei, was also an artist of fame.
EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES
Pls. I (Color), II & III Iris, by Korin (Japanese, 1658-1716).
Color on gold ground. Pair of six-fold screens.
Each:--height: 150.6 cm.; width: 55 cm. (end panels), 61.8 cm. (other panels).
Collection of Mr. Kaichiro Nezu, Tokyo.
The present pair of six-fold screens is widely known as the masterpieces of Korin, which were formerly treasured for generations in Nishi-Honganji in Kyoto.
The subject seems to have been based on the famous paragraph beginning with the word 'Yatsu-hashi' in the celebrated Ise-monogatari, art old Japanese literary work. As seen in the reproductions the treatment of the subject is unusual, for, whereas only groups of iris are represented here the same subject is usually depicted by other artists with water and bridges.
The composition is reduced almost to the simplest stage where neither addition nor further subtraction can be allowed but the literary content of the paragraph is cleverly suggested. In the plain yet gorgeous color scheme of green, blue and indigo on a gold ground the artist's effort to represent the subject realistically is traced.
Although nothing is known of the motive for the production and the history of the present screens the artist's signature and seal (Iryo) (p. 26) appearing on each screen are to be connsidered the prototypes.
Pls. IV, V, VII, VIII & IX Poems written by Koetsu (Japanese, 1558-1637) on shikishi painted by Sotatsu (attributed).
Color on paper. Mounted as a pair of albums.
Height: 18.3 cm.; width: 16.2 cm.
The East Asiatic Collection, Berlin.
(See the article by Prof. Yashiro)
Pl. VI Yatsu-hashi, by Kenzan (Japanese, 1663-1743).
Color on paper. Mounted as Kakemono.
Height: 27.9 cm.; width: 36.7 cm.
Collection of Mr. Saburo Yamaguchi, Kyoto.
The subject of the present piece is the same as that of the Iris by Korin who is the elder brother of Kenzan, artist of the present work. In contrast to the Iris which is painted on a pair of six-fold screens the present picture is an unpretentious example of less than one foot high. The blue of the flowers, green of the leaves and dull silver and ink of the bridges compose the general color scheme and the unoccupied space is cleverly filled by the artist with the text and poems chosen from the Ise-monogatari.
There is seen something in common with the painted designs on pottery in which Kenzan was particularly successful in the present Yatsu-hashi. That it is painted lightly but not frivolously, that it is quite refined as a whole is due to the personality of the artist who, living in seclusion, put his soul into ceramic art. The art of Kenzan, therefore, is interesting compared to the Iris (Pls. I, II & III) by Korin which is full of vigor and splendor.
Concerning the date of the present picture there is no data to consult, but, judging from the style of both painting and calligraphy which is apparently matured, it may be considered that the present piece was produced in the later days of his life.