Tokuyama Gyokuran was introduced to the world of the literati early in life. Her mother and adopted mother were both noted poets in Kyoto and were close to the early nanga artist Yanagisawa Kien (1704–1758), a painting teacher to Ike Taiga, whom Gyokuran later married in the early 1750s. Although she began painting well before her marriage, Taiga’s influence is apparent here in the technique used to create the broad, trailing contour line of the rock and the pointed bamboo leaves. Based on what is known of her stylistic development, this work is dated to around 1768.
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Dimensions:Image: 36 5/8 × 16 7/16 in. (93 × 41.7 cm) Overall with mounting: 68 7/8 × 22 3/16 in. (175 × 56.4 cm) Overall with knobs: 68 7/8 × 24 7/16 in. (175 × 62 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015
Object Number:2015.300.169
Gyokuran, the most well known woman artist of the Edo period, was the wife of the painter Ike Taiga (cat. nos. 157–159 ). Her parents owned a tea shop in Kyoto. Gyokuran's mother, Yuri (1694–1764), and Yuri's adoptive mother, Kaji, both had reputations as published waka poets.[1] Gyokuran, nee Machi, was thus exposed to the world of the literati early in her life. Her mother was a friend of Yanagisawa Kien (1706–1758), a nanga artist and Taiga's early mentor. Kien may have instructed Machi in painting; he gave her part of his artistic name, "Gyoku," which she used to form "Gyokuran." Her marriage to Taiga is believed to have taken place about 1751. In their devotion both to each other and to their art, they are often compared to the painters Zhao Mengfu (1254–1322) and his wife, Guan Daoshen. It is notable, however, that contemporary records, including the 1768 edition of the Heian jinhutsushi (the Who's Who of the Kyoto art world) lists Gyokuran under "Tokuyama" and not by her husband's name, Ike or Ikeno.[2]
Although Gyokuran seems to have painted before her marriage, Taiga's influence on her work is apparent. Taiga's idiosyncrasies are muted and softened in her paintings; here, the use of an angled brush in the broad strokes of the bamboo leaves and rock recalls his favorite technique. Gyokuran's tranquil depiction of nature is imbued with purity and freshness. Pale blue washes enhance the rich coloristic effects created by the varying tonalities of ink.
Only one work by Gyokuran with a dated inscription is known, a painting of plum on which her mother wrote a poem.[3] Gyokuran's signature on the painting is brushed in a vigorous, youthful calligraphy. The painting is nearly identical to a work by Taiga, which he is thought to have completed when he was about thirty and Gyokuran about twenty-five.[4] Some of Gyokuran's works reflect Taiga's early style, others his late manner. Although comparing Gyokuran's paintings with those of her husband is an unsatisfactory method by which to deduce the chronological framework of her oeuvre, it is at present the only viable one.[5] The style of the signature on the present work suggests that she was about forty years old when she painted it. The character for gyoku (jewel) in Gyokuran's name is written with a distinct loop in the middle, giving it a round, open appearance. In some, perhaps later, works, this character no longer has the loop and has acquired a narrower, leaner profile.
[Miyeko Murase 2000, Bridge of Dreams]
[1] Their poems were anthologized in Kaji no ha (Kaji's Leaves, 1707) and Sayuriba (Leaves of Little Yuri, 1727), respectively; see Fister 1988, no. 30. [2] It has been noted that Gyokuran's address is listed in this book as different from that of Taiga and that she was interred with her mother and grandmother rather than with her husband; see Hoshino Rei 1977, P· 36. [3] Ibid. [4] Tanaka Ichimatsu et al. 1960, no. 93. [5] Suzuki Susumu 1974, pp. 37–50.
Signature: Gyokuran
Marking: Seal: Gyokuran
Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation , New York (until 2015; donated to MMA)
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Japanese Art: Selections from the Mary and Jackson Burke Collection," November 7, 1975–January 4, 1976.
Seattle Art Museum. "Japanese Art: Selections from the Mary and Jackson Burke Collection," March 10–May 1, 1977.
Minneapolis Institute of Arts. "Japanese Art: Selections from the Mary and Jackson Burke Collection," June 1–July 17, 1977.
Orlando. Loch Haven Art Center. "Urban Beauties and Rural Charms," January 8, 1980–February 10, 1980.
Lawrence. Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas. "Japanese Women Artists, 1600–1900," April 2, 1988–May 22, 1988.
Honolulu Academy of Arts. "Japanese Women Artists, 1600–1900," September 21, 1988–October 30, 1988.
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.
Philadelphia Museum of Art. "Masters of the Brush: Ike Taiga and Tokuyama Gyokuran," April 28, 2007–July 22, 2007.
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. 110.
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. 270, cat. no. 338.
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. 90, fig. 27.
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