Letter Enclosing Flowers

Okada Hankō Japanese

Not on view

Okada Hankō devoted himself to Confucian studies and painting in the style of Chinese Ming and Qing masters, as had his father, Okada Beisanjin (1744–1820). This letter to a friend, written when the artist was forty-nine, offers a gift of flowers arranged in a Chinese style, a practice cultivated by Japanese literati. The amusing twist: the gift was not actual flowers but flower sketches, executed in a charmingly free manner that reflects the spontaneous, personal quality espoused by Nanga (literati) painters in emulation of Chinese scholar-artists.

Letter Enclosing Flowers, Okada Hankō (Japanese, 1782–1846), Handscroll; ink and color on paper, Japan

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Letter Enclosing Flowers, Okada Hankō (Japanese, 1782–1846), Handscroll; ink and color on paper, Japan
Letter Enclosing Flowers, Okada Hankō (Japanese, 1782–1846), Handscroll; ink and color on paper, Japan
Letter Enclosing Flowers, Okada Hankō (Japanese, 1782–1846), Handscroll; ink and color on paper, Japan
Letter Enclosing Flowers, Okada Hankō (Japanese, 1782–1846), Handscroll; ink and color on paper, Japan
Letter Enclosing Flowers, Okada Hankō (Japanese, 1782–1846), Handscroll; ink and color on paper, Japan
Letter Enclosing Flowers, Okada Hankō (Japanese, 1782–1846), Handscroll; ink and color on paper, Japan
Letter Enclosing Flowers, Okada Hankō (Japanese, 1782–1846), Handscroll; ink and color on paper, Japan

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