Painting Album of Sublime Talent
Various artists
Calligraphy by Kamo no Suetaka Japanese
Not on view
This album contains small paintings by twelve artists associated with the Maruyama-Shijō school, and poetic inscriptions. The calligrapher, Suetaka, was a well-known man of letters within the circles of intellectuals, writers, and artists of western Japan, and also served as a priest at the Kamigamo Shrine in Kyoto. The sketch-like paintings present images associated with festivals or activities of the twelve months of the year. Among these are the Kamo horserace (by Kishi Ganku), the Hinamatsuri doll festival (by Hara Zaichū), and the Iwashimizu Hōjō-e (byYoshimura Kōkei), in which animals (in this case birds and a tortoise) were released from captivity with prayers for the ruling emperor or shogun. Maruyama Ōzui’s chrysanthemums refers to the ninth day of the ninth month, when cloths were soaked with dew from chrysanthemums which was then applied to the face for its supposed powers of rejuvenation.
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