Itō Jakuchū, painting

Itō Jakuchū (1716-1800 Kyoto)

Painting: Roses and Small Bird

Shokokuji Jotenkaku Museum

Photo from: https://www.pinterest.jp/kashiwagiq/ito-jakuchu/?lp=true

The chosen painting is titled “Roses and Small Bird”, by Ito Jakuchu (1716-1800). It was realized from 1761 to 1765. The material is colored silk, size: 142.6 x 79.7 cm and it’s in kakemono format. Ito Jakuchu, (born March 2, 1716, Kyōto, Japan—died Oct. 27, 1800, Kyōto), was a painter of the mid-Tokugawa period, excelled in drawing flowers, fish, and birds, especially fowl, which he used to keep at his home in order to observe them closely. He was from a family of greengrocers, but he decided to dedicate his life to painting, studying at the Kano school (and Zen Buddhism), copying old Chinese art and then creating his own style. He moved to Shokoku Temple (converted in a Buddhist monk), where the Zen priest Daiten Zenji recognized him. There he created which is considerate his masterpiece: a set of paintings entitled Doshokusai-e (Coloured pictures of animals and plants). Which the painting selected for this essay (“Roses and Small Bird”) is from.

It was a great experience to visit Shokokuji Jotenkaku Museum, which had a whole exhibition dedicated to this artist. When I looked at the different rank of paintings, I was really surprised. Not only for the different technics and topics that I could observe, but also for the movement and live feeling that they transmitted. You could be easily trapped by the details, protagonists (animals mainly) and the subtle central point of every painting.

Talking about Roses and Small Bird, we can observe the clear influence of Kano school, how the outlining is marked for example. But also, the own Jakuchu’s style which reflexes living beings and movement through bright colors, the use of patterns and the realistic details. The bird is playing the role of the centerpiece of the work. In others paintings the artist plays with proportions, drawing enormous eyes or bodies in animals, but in this case, as the title of the painting announces, it is about a small bird that might be lost between such beautiful and abundant flowers. With this fact the viewer can think about small events or details in the landscape, and then they can realize about the rectifier that can be to observe around and find surprises of the present.

As Jakuchu was living as a priest (devoted to the religion), being patronized by Zen Buddhism, every painting of Doshokusai-e was specially created for the temple he was living in (Shokokuji). Then, we find symbolism of Buddhism precepts: from details and importance of contemplation, through meditation and sudden Enlightenment.

Living in Kyoto during Edo period was a good opportunity for every artist, providing them tools and time for develop their works and create own styles. As Kyoto was not anymore the main capital (and adding that it was far from Edo), they had more freedom than near the strict Tokugawa family. They had different patrons, which were mostly samurai or religious.

The Kano school influence was strong presented in many artist of the age, as the use of different colors, brushwork and subjects as nature for Buddhism.

Undoubtedly, Doshokusai-e and especially Roses and Small Bird were created for meditation, painted as a present for Zen Buddhism’s followers. This was exhibited in Kakemono format at different spaces of Shokoku temple.

Roses and Small Bird is just one of the 30 works of the collection that Jakuchu painted during a long time, which reflexes the development of art and evolution of religious thinking during Edo period, leaving not just a way for meditation, but a legacy for Japanese Culture and the world.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Itō Jakuchū. (2017). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://academic.eb.com/levels/collegiate/article/It%C5%8D-Jakuch%C5%AB/43050

• Brenson, Michael. "Review/Art; A 2d Round of Jakuchu, the 18th-Century Japanese Painter." New York Times, 24 Nov. 1989. Global Issues in Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A175793364/GIC?u=udeg1&xid=ba9fd739. Accessed 18 May 2017.

• "Special Exhibition of Japanese Screens by Three Artists of the Kano School: Yeitoku, Sanraku, and Sansetsu." Museum of Fine Arts Bulletin 10, no. 55 (1912): 6-8. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4423543.

• “Follow the footsteps of Ito Jakuchu: From Shokokuji Temple to Tadasu no Mori” Into Japan, Waraku Magazine. https://intojapanwaraku.com/EN/travel/20160925/3980