BackNo.86
FEBRUARY 1939
This summary is compiled by Mr. TAKASHI KATSUKI.
INSECT AND FISH ALBUM, PAINTED BY KAZAN
BY TEIZO SUGANUMA
The present Insect and Fish Album (Pls. IV-IX) by Kazan, now owned by Mr. Junzo Kosaka, is not only a masterpiece among numerous paintings of birds and flowers by the same artist but also is of importance so far as his life is concerned. In this discourse the present exponent introduces in detail the contents of the album, etcetera.
The album is composed of twelve pictures in color on silk and twelve poems corresponding to each painting, written also by the same hand on paper the same size as the pictures and his calligraphy also deserves mention. The pictures are in order as folows: 1--Bamboo and Spiders, 2--Branch with Mushrooms and Crickets, 3--Mouse Ready to Pounce on the Silkworms on Mulberry Leaves, 4--Ants and Mantis, 5--Insects and Grass, 6--Fish and Insects in Lotus Pond, 7--Basket with Clams and Flies, 8--Cicada on Willow Branch, 9--Dragonfly and Cockscomb, 10--Eggplant and Bees, 11--Frogs Near the Water, 11--Tortoises on a Rock.
The subject matter is cleverly handled in the various compositions The sketchy but life-like representation of the subject is in harmony with its surroundings. The brush stroke is rather simple and the coloring is low. Although the drawing is highly detailed the lines are plain, sharp yet supple. The combined use of the mokkotsu and the koroku techniques in clear color and ink is noticeable.
That Kazan studied Yun Nan-t'ien, Ching artist, in painting flowers is known but in the present album unlike Nan-t'ien's works which are characterized by warm mellowness kanzan's straightforward personality permeates each work.
The poems were chosen from those by the famous Chinese poets of the T'ang through the Ming Dynasties but they are not necessarily the exact copies of each poem and some are different from the original although whether or not they were done on purpose is a question still unsolved. These literatry points have been consi dered by the present author but space is lacking to introduce the discussion here.
The last picture of the album bears Kazan's autographic note dated teiyu-hachigatsu-misoka corresponding to the thirtieth of the eighth year of Tempo (1837) when he was at the age of forty-four. This date, however. is not the exact date of the year of execution; at least it is not in agreement with the following known fact: kazan wrote a letter (now in a private collection) addressed to a proficient artist, Chinzan (1801-1854), when the present album was finished and the letter is believed to have been written on the thirtieth of August of the twelfth year of Tempo (1841).
Kazan, according to the letter, painted the present album at the request of a certain person through Chinzan and in the same letter revealed that Kazan had prepared a title for each picture, which does not appear in the present album. Accordingly, the date of completion of the present album is ascertained to be the thirtieth of August of the twelfth year of Tempo (1841).
The reason that he hesitates to give the correct date to the album was due to his diffident life in confinement by the Shogunate in Tawara, his home town. The same is also true of his other examples. Kazan who was afraid of causing trouble to his war lord ended his life on the eleventh of October of the same year. In his seclusion painting was not only his means of making a living but also of overcoming his affliction and we can easily visualize Kazan sketching insects quietly in the field although well aware that he would not live much longer.
The title on the album and the epilogue attached to the same were written by Ko Ryuko, artist, and Fujimori Taiga respectively. We surmise from the epilogue that the person who requested Kazan to paint the present work must have been a certain Sunaga of Ashikaga of the present Tochigi prefecture. The names of the people to whom the album has successively belonged down to the present time are almost all known. This album was recently registered as a National Treasure.
THE MORYO-GA STYLE OF ZEN PAINTING (PART II)
BY SHUJIRO SHIMADA
In the present paper the writer who previously discussed the life of Chih-jung and his work compares the latter with an extant group of Zen paintings. The group of Zen works consists of Zen figure paintings which are sketched ever so faintly in ink, the composition being generally quite simple.
They are traditionally ascribed to Wu-chun, Shuai-weng, Men Wu-kuan, Hu Chih-fu, Li Yao-fu, and others, who either are known little or are fairly well known as a priest although practically unknown as a painter. The works often bear eulogies written by the famous Zen priests of South Sung China and nearly all examples are found only in Japan.
The central picture of the Pu-tai and Two Others (Pls. II & III) is one of the examples, which bears a eulogy by Priest Yen-ch'i Kuang-wen. This is, however, mounted as a triptych accompanied by two other pieces which were apparently done by a different hand. The central piece (Pl. III) which drawns our special attention is not only characterized by the composition, tonality and brush strokes, peculiar to the Moryo-Ga, but also the the distinctive use of deep black ink in parts of the eyelids, pupils, mouth and the cane laid in front of Pu-tai is so planned as to give life to the painting.
Furthermore, his visage, in contrast to the apparel, is carefully done although the technique applied is not meticulous. The attitude of the artist who produced the present work is quite different from that of the ordinary ones who did not reach the stage which the former attained through profound apprehension in the faith.
All those minor points of the present example are found to be in common with the group of Zen paintings as mentioned before, and which, on the other hand, are presumed to be similar to once extant works by Chih-jung. Under these circumstances the present author declares that the artists of this group should have belonged to the School of Chih-jung. Consequently, the present writer disagrees with the other theory which has it that the precursor of the techniques revealed in the group of paintings is the famous artist, Liang K'ai.
The question to be discussed next is how many people, speaking from the contents of the documents, worked in the Chih-jung style in painting after the death of Chih-jung. In extensive investigations of the documents issued since the time of Chih-jung down through the Yuang Period the present exponent came across the following names: Hui-yuang, a certain T'u, Kun Ts'ui-yen and Hu Chih-fu.
Judging from the documents relating to those people the so-called Chih-jung style is deemed to have still existed widely. Of the four, only Hui-yuang is a priest and Kun Ts'ui-yen is the artist known as Kun-k'ai* at the beginning of the Yuang Period and the two others, judging from their names, are not priests.
All the documents concerned, however, were those written by Zen priests without exception, indicating a close relation between the Chih-jung style paintings and the Zen faith. Accordingly, the connection with the group of Zen paintings is also infered. Chih-jung was really the artist who founded the school to which the artists of the group of paintings belonged.
Among these artists Hu Chih-fu, especially, calls our attention, who was considered greater than Chih-jung in Japan, although both the names of Hu Chih-fu and Chih-jung were almost entirely forgotten in art history in ChIna.
The remaining works ascribed to Hu Chih-fu are not few and they are represented by one, now owned by the Tokugawa Reimei Kai, which is reproduced in the present Bijutsu Kenkyu (Pl. III). It is, therefore, of interest to make his life and works clear in the study of the Chih-jung School of painting. All that we know atbout him is that he lived in Ssu-ming, China, and his life spanned the years following the end of the Sung Period and the opening of the Yuang. Concerning his work there is not a single authentic piece with evidence and this also applies to the central picture of the Pu-tai and Two Others (Pls. II & III).
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* Some paintings attributed to him remain today but hardly any Characteristic feature peculiar to the Moryo-Ga is found in them. Therefore, a question rises regarding this point, but as the existence of works by Kun-k'ai in the Moryo-Ga style is envinced by the old document the present writer will not go any further into this matter.
-Ed.-
THE COMPILATION OF THE HONCHO-GA-SAN BY BUNCHO
BY KISAKU TANAKA
The most important epochs in the history of connoisseurship in painting in the Momoyama and Tokugawa Periods were during the half century between the beginning of the Kan-ei Era (1624-1643) and the end of the Kambun Era (1661-11672) and during the thirty years from the beginning of Bunka Era (1804-1817) to the end of the Bunsei Era (1818-1829). A most distinguished figure among connoisseurs, especially in the latter, was Tani Buncho (1763-1840) who was not only the dean of painters in Edo at the time but was an expert in examining paintings in which his contribution to art history was very great.
The present writer in estimating his literary works praises his immortal achievements. Among them is a copy of a voluminous work which is now in a private library and has hitherto been practically unknown to the public. Introduced here, however, is one of the most important literary works by Buncho, namely, the HonchoGa-San (Illustrated Biographies of Japanese Painters) (p: 20).
The Hon-cho-Ga-San was originally published at his own expense for many years. Accordingly, the exact number of different volumes published is not known although extant copies are not scarce. The continuous effort of the present writer finally brought such questions to light and each volume is to be reprinted from the original in the Bijutsu Kenkyu beginning with the present number, (pp. 30-42).
Buncho had made copies of the excellent examples of old Japanese painters which he came across from his youthful days on and the Honcho-Ga-San consists of selection from those copies, each of which generally represented a different artist. Attached to the selected copies are the facsimiles of seals of the respective artist, measurement and owner's name of each work as well as a brief biography of each artist.
Introducing ten to thirteen artists each volume bears a post-script by Buncho (p. 20). The present writer discovered eighteen different volumes which were probably published consecutively. He also found two other kinds of volumes among those bound together for convenience' sake. Totaling twenty, thus, they are the records of two hundred and twenty-two artists.
However, there is another publication of the Honcho-Ga-San which was printed from the wood types left by the original author. In this publication one hundred and seventy-three painters are numbered of which ten are not included in the aforementioned two hundred and twenty-two. These ten, according to the present writer, may be assumed to belong to the last volume which has not yet been found: Thus, twenty-one volumes in which some repetitions among the works of artists are seen introducing two hundred and thirty-two artists comprise the entire set known so far.
According to the original plan, as related in the postscript, the compilation of the Honcho-Ga-San was to swell to a tremendous number of volumes; neverthless, if any further discoveries of any other parts of the Honcho-Ga-San are made they will not much exceed the number known today.
There is no indication in any volume of the date of publication but we can surmise from various sources that the Honcho-Ga-San must have been issued in the period between the sixth year of Bunka (1809) and the tenth year of Tempo (1839). It was possibly the same period as that in which Buncho's other literary works such as the Gagaku-Sosho and others were published.
In the Meiji Era Haneda Shiun, artist, published a part of the Honcho-Ga-San, including more than one hundred artists and less than one hundred others in addition which were newly selected by himself under the title of the Honcho-Ga-San-Daizen.
The present paper is followed by the list of painters' names which were reprinted from the Honcho-Ga-San dealing with one hundred and seventy-three artists.
EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES
Pl. I (Color) Korean Jar of the Li Dynasty.
Porcelain.
Height: 35.6 cm.; diameter at mouth: 15.5 cm.; diameter at bottom: 14.7 cm.
Collection of the Nippon Mingei Kan, Tokyo.
A sort of intimacy which is a characteristic feature of ceramic art of the Li Dynasty is due to its native and natural shape in which is traced no artificiality. The glaze of pale white is applied thickly but the shiny quality of the glaze is much subdued so as to match the naivety of the form.
As for the design the grape-vine and its leaves are drawn in a subdued brown and the grapes and squirrels in blue, also passive. The drawing is done spontaneously yet expressively, the colors harmonizing beautifully with the shape of the jar.
Speaking from the technical point of view, as seen in the present example, the design drawn in brown and blue at the same time is quite unusual among those Produced during the Li Dynasty.
Although the method of employment of blue pigment in ceramic art was imperted from Ming China at the beginning of the Li Dynasty, it seems, due to the scarceness of the raw pigment, to have gradually become pepular only after the Mishimate technique had waned.
The meager use of blue and the fact that it is not well-defined suggest to us that the date of production may be set around the end of the seventeenth century.
Pls. II & III Pu-tai and Two Others.
Ink on paper. Mounted as Kakemono in triptych.
Center: Height: 84.2 cm.; width: 32.1 cm.
Sides: Height: 79.5 cm.; width: 31.3 cm.
Collection of the Tokugawa Reimei Kai, Tokyo.
(See the article by Shujiro Shimada)
Pls. IV - IX Insect and Fish Album, Kazan (Japanese, 1793-1841).
Color on silk.
Height: 27.2 cm.; width: 24 cm.
Collection of Mr. Junji Kosaka, Tokyo.
(see the articles by Teizo Suganuma)