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Autumn Ivy

Ogata Kenzan Japanese
after 1732
Not on view
Born into Kyoto’s cultured merchant class, Kenzan was best known for his ceramic wares but was also a highly regarded calligrapher. Kenzan’s individualistic, expressive inscription of a poem referring to future winds scattering crimson leaves of ivy, recalls a famous scene from the tenth-century Tales of Ise (Ise monogatari), in which a courtier, exiled from the capital, encounters an itinerant monk on an ivy- strewn path on Mount Utsu.

Kakaru shimo
waga aki naranu
matsukaze y
chiru o urami no
tsuta no momijiba

Though not yet
winds through the pines
blow all around
and I dread they’ll scatter
the crimson leaves of ivy.
–Trans. John T. Carpenter

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 蔦紅葉図
  • Title: Autumn Ivy
  • Artist: Ogata Kenzan (Japanese, 1663–1743)
  • Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
  • Date: after 1732
  • Culture: Japan
  • Medium: Album leaf mounted as a hanging scroll; ink, color, and gold on paper
  • Dimensions: Image: 8 3/8 x 10 7/8 in. (21.3 x 27.6 cm)
    Overall: 44 7/8 x 22 1/4 in. (114 x 56.5 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: The Harry G. C. Packard Collection of Asian Art, Gift of Harry G. C. Packard, and Purchase, Fletcher, Rogers, Harris Brisbane Dick, and Louis V. Bell Funds, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, and The Annenberg Fund Inc. Gift, 1975
  • Object Number: 1975.268.67
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Water Pot, Ogata Kenzan Japanese, Clay covered with white and black glazes and decorated on the white parts under the glaze (Kenzan style), Japan
Water Pot
Ogata Kenzan
18th century
Dish with Design of Maple Leaves in a Stream, Ogata Kenzan Japanese, Stoneware with colored enamels (Kyoto ware), Japan
Dish with Design of Maple Leaves in a Stream
Ogata Kenzan
19th century
Set of Five Camellia-Shaped Side Dishes (Mukōzuke) with Camellia Patterns, Ogata Kenzan Japanese, Stoneware with white slip and polychrome overglaze enamels (Kenzan ware), Japan
Set of Five Camellia-Shaped Side Dishes (Mukōzuke) with Camellia Patterns
Ogata Kenzan
18th century
Cup, Ogata Kenzan Japanese, Porcelain decorated in blue under the glaze, polychrome enamels over the glaze (Kenzan ware), Japan
Cup
Ogata Kenzan
18th century
Spouted pouring vessel, Ogata Kenzan Japanese, Earthenware with underglaze-iron, Japan
Spouted pouring vessel
Ogata Kenzan

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