Sparrow and Bamboo
Sakai Hōitsu Japanese
Calligraphy by Kameda Bōsai Japanese
Not on view
In this narrow composition a sparrow balances on a branchlet of bamboo; the silvery tones of the primary stalk contrast with the dark ink of its leaves and joints. Sakai Hōitsu is best known for his revival of the art of Rinpa-school master Ogata Kōrin (1658–1716) and for his polychrome paintings in the Rinpa style. He was also a master of ink, however, as this lively collaborative work indicates.
Kameda Bōsai, a Confucian scholar, inscribed colophons on paintings by several important artists of his day, including Hōitsu and his younger follower Suzuki Kiitsu (1799–1858). Here, his cursive calligraphy appears just below Hōitsu’s perching sparrow. Bōsai often claimed to work while intoxicated, which may account for the hasty but animated quality of his brushwork.
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