Yanji with Orchids and Yang Guifei with Peonies

Having claimed descent from the ancient Minamoto (Genji) family, the artist Komai Ki (1747–1797) was more commonly known as Genki. He has been stigmatized as the "dutiful pupil" of Maruyama Ōkyo (cat. no. 115), the mere perpetuator of the latter's painting style. Certainly, Genki often collaborated with Ōkyo, and for the last two years of his life—following the death of his master in 1795—he was administrator of the Maruyama school. Ill health and a relatively early death at the age of forty-nine are often cited as the reasons for his failure to emerge from his teacher's shadow or develop as distinctive a career as that of his volatile younger colleague, Nagasawa Rosetsu (cat. no. 118), who established a highly idiosyncratic style from his early clays as a student in Ōkyo's studio.

Genki's own self-effacing personality is reflected in one of the artistic names he chose for himself, "Shiun." In this name, which appears in seal form on each of the Burke scrolls, un means "to veil or cover," implying that he is a man who conceals. Ōkyo, too, must have recognized this aspect of his pupil's character, for he frequently delegated his own commissions in the distant provinces to Rosetsu, whereas Genki was given no such honor. However, as noted in 1769 by Yujō, the abbot of Enman'in, Otsu, the great chronicler of Ōkyo's career, Genki seems to have been his master's constant companion.[1] Negative assessments of Genki's work notwithstanding, he is still regarded as one of the two finest practitioners—with Goshun (cat. no. 117)—of Ōkyo's style to emerge from the Maruyama circle.

While Ōkyo's reputation lies in his realistic portraits from life, his imaginary depictions of men and women from ancient China are in fact more numerous than his portraits of contemporary Japanese figures. The student followed the master's example. Genki's Chinese beauties are lavishly dressed and fashionably coiffed in the manner of aristocratic ladies of the Tang dynasty. A porcelain-delicate Chinese beauty graces each of these paintings. The pensive figure in the left scroll reflects upon a peony plant, symbol of wealth and beauty, here shown somewhat past its peak. The absence of specific attributes makes it difficult to identify the woman as someone from Chinese history or legend. In addition to the artist's signature and two seals, the scroll bears the date "Tenmei kinoto-mi chūshū," which corresponds to mid-August 1785.

While the peony makes clear reference to summer, the narcissus, symbol of pure beauty seen in the right scroll, is a flower of early spring. Here, a seated woman about to write or paint on the fan before her holds a brush wistfully to her chin. On the stone table are the usual paraphernalia of the scholar-painter. A painting by Rosetsu in a private collection in Japan depicts a similarly posed Chinese lady, a painting of bamboo spread before her.[2] It is perhaps a portrait of Guan Daoshen (1262–1325), the wife of the Yuan literati painter Zhao Mengfu, who distinguished herself as a painter of bamboo. Rosetsu's work has been dated, from the style of his signature, to about 1795, ten years after Genki made the Burke scrolls. Similarities between the paintings suggest the existence of a common model by their master, Ōkyo.

Ōkyo often made full-size preparatory drawings, and he frequently used the same drawings over and over as a basis for his paintings.[3] His pupils would make copies of these drawings to serve as models for their own work; hence the existence of many similar compositions by both Ōkyo and his followers. Another diptych by Genki, in the Furitsu Sōgō Shiryōkan, Kyoto, is almost identical to the Burke scrolls, but lacks a dated inscription.[4]

Although Ōkyo's influence is undeniable, the gossamer ladies created by Genki are in fact more ethereal, more dreamlike, and more elegant than those of his teacher.

[Miyeko Murase 2000, Bridge of Dreams]

[1] Miyajima Shin'ichi 1984, p. 23.
[2] Ibid., fig. 87.
[3] Sasaki Jōhei and Sasaki Masako 1996, pp. 212ff.
[4] Museum of Kyoto 1993, no. 43.

Signature: Genki utsusu

Marking: Seal: Genki no in and Shiun

Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation , New York (until 2015; donated to MMA)

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Masterpieces of Japanese Art from The Mary Griggs Burke Collection," March 30–June 25, 2000.

Museum of Fine Arts, Gifu. "Enduring Legacy of Japanese Art: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection," July 5, 2005–August 19, 2005.

Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum. "Enduring Legacy of Japanese Art: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection," October 4, 2005–December 11, 2005.

Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum. "Enduring Legacy of Japanese Art: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection," January 24, 2006–March 5, 2006.

Miho Museum. "Enduring Legacy of Japanese Art: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection," March 15, 2006–June 11, 2006.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Celebrating the Arts of Japan: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection," October 20, 2015–May 14, 2017.

Tsuji Nobuo 辻惟雄, Mary Griggs Burke, Nihon Keizai Shinbunsha 日本経済新聞社, and Gifu-ken Bijutsukan 岐阜県美術館. Nyūyōku Bāku korekushon-ten: Nihon no bi sanzennen no kagayaki ニューヨーク・バーク・コレクション展 : 日本の美三千年の輝き(Enduring legacy of Japanese art: The Mary Griggs Burke collection). Exh. cat. [Tokyo]: Nihon Keizai Shinbunsha, 2005, cat. no. 98.

Murase, Miyeko, Il Kim, Shi-yee Liu, Gratia Williams Nakahashi, Stephanie Wada, Soyoung Lee, and David Sensabaugh. Art Through a Lifetime: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection. Vol. 1, Japanese Paintings, Printed Works, Calligraphy. [New York]: Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, [2013], p. 324, cat. no. 394.

McKelway, Matthew P., and Khanh Trinh. Rosetsu: Ferocious Brush. Exh. cat. Munich: Prestel Verlag, [2018], p. 22.