This painting, while exhibiting the trademark mottled-ink (tarashikomi) technique of the Rinpa school, reflects the artist’s interest in Western-style realism, which is combined with sophisticated, graceful forms. The intricately curling leaves of the tree and grass evoke the cold sky of the clear fall day alluded to in the inscription, which dates the screen to late autumn 1816.
Hōitsu was born into a wealthy, influential samurai family and had all the advantages of the finest education, including the opportunity to study many of the painting styles available to artists in Edo Japan. He became a monk in 1797 and adopted the priestly name Monsen Kishin, which appears in the seal and signature on this screen.
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酒井抱一筆 柿図屏風
Title:Persimmon Tree
Artist:Sakai Hōitsu (Japanese, 1761–1828)
Period:Edo period (1615–1868)
Date:1816
Culture:Japan
Medium:Two-panel folding screen; ink and color on paper
Dimensions:Image: 56 9/16 × 56 5/8 in. (143.7 × 143.8 cm) Overall: 64 1/8 in. × 64 in. (162.9 × 162.6 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1957
Accession Number:57.156.3
Signature: Hōitsu Kishin; seal: Monsen
Marking:
[ Mathias Komor , New York, until 1957; sold to MMA]
New York. Asia House Gallery. "Byōbu: Japanese Screens from New York Collections," January 14, 1971–March 14, 1971.
Tokyo National Museum. "Rimpa: Outstanding Works of the Korin School," October 10, 1972–December 3, 1972.
Fukuoka Art Museum. "Nihon no bi : Rimpa: Sōtatsi, Kōrin, Hoitsu kara gendai made," October 7, 1989–November 5, 1989.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Seasonal Pleasures in Japanese Art (Part One)," October 12, 1995–April 28, 1996.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Blossoms of Many Colors: A Selection from the Permanent Collection of Japanese Art," March 21–August 9, 2000.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Birds, Flowers, and Buddhist Paradise Imagery in Japanese Art," February 14–June 13, 2004.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "A Sensitivity to the Seasons: Autumn and Winter," June 22–September 10, 2006.
Tokyo National Museum. "Celebrating the 350th Anniversary of Ogata Korin's Birth, Treasures by Rinpa Masters: Inheritance and Innovation," October 7, 2008–November 16, 2008.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "A Sensitivity to the Seasons: Summer and Autumn in Japanese Art," June 24–October 23, 2011.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Designing Nature: The Rinpa Aesthetic in Japanese Art," May 26, 2012–January 13, 2013.
New York. Japan Society Gallery. "Silver Winds: the Art of Sakai Hoitsu (1761–1828) and His Circle," September 28, 2012–January 6, 2013.
Nakamura Tanio 中村溪男. Hōitsuha kachō gafu 抱一派花鳥画譜 (Edo Rinpa and Artists Surrounding Sakai Hoitsu). 6 vols. Tokyo: Shikōsha, 1978–1980.
Akiyama Terukazu 秋山光和, Shimada Shūjirō 島田修二郎, and Yamane Yūzō 山根有三, eds. Zaigai Nihon no shihō 在外日本の至宝 (Japanese art: selections from Western collections): Rinpa. vol. 5, Tokyo: Mainichi Shinbunsha, 1979, pl. 100.
Tokyo Kokuritsu Bunkazai Kenkyūjo 東京国立文化財研究所, ed. Nyūyōku Metoroporitan Bijutsukan, kaiga, chōkoku ニューヨークメトロポリタン美術館，絵画・彫刻 (Painting and sculpture of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) Kaigai shozai Nihon bijutsuhin chōsa hōkoku 海外所在日本美術品調查報告 (Catalogue of Japanese art in foreign collections) 1. Tokyo: Kobunkazai Kagaku Kenkyūkai, 1991, p. 101, cat. no. 303.
Lacina, Melody. Private Hunger: Poems by Melody Lacina. Akron, Ohio: University of Akron Press, 2002, pp. 1, 27, 49.
Carpenter, John T. Designing Nature: The Rinpa Aesthetic in Japanese Art. Exh. cat. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2012, p. 152, cat. no. 63.
McKelway, Matthew P. Silver Wind: The Arts of Sakai Hōitsu (1761–1828). Exh. cat. New York: Japan Society, 2012, pp. 136–138, cat. no. 40.
Carpenter, John T. The Poetry of Nature: Edo Paintings from the Fishbein-Bender Collection. Exh. cat. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2018, p. 50, fig. 14.
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