Mountain and Calligraphy

Ike Taiga probably composed these four small paintings as a set. The title of each is inscribed on the sheet. Abbreviated, soft strokes are rapidly, almost casually brushed, capturing the essence of the scene—the tranquillity of the two men who gaze silently toward the mountains across the valley (Discussion under a Pine Tree about the Vicissitudes of Time) or the bustle of activity in the village (Evening Glow in a Mountain Village), where figures are merely a few smears of ink.

Each painting is now accompanied by a separate sheet of calligraphy, with the exception of Summer Mountains in the Rain, which has two. The poems were composed and added to the paintings long after Taiga's death by a group of famous scholars, poets, and calligraphers: Minagawa Kien (1734–1807), Ōkubo Shibutsu (1766–1837), Shinozaki Shōchiku (1781–1851), Kameda Bōsai (cat. no. 167), and Rokunyo (1737–1801), a Buddhist monk.

Discussion under a Pine Tree about the
Vicissitudes of Time (Shōka ronko)

Together we discuss a thousand ancient matters,
Until the setting sun shifts across the hill.
No one can say what is true and what is false.
Only the towering pine tree knows.

I write this colophon on Ike Mumei's
"Shōka ronko"
—Minagawa Kien

Summer Mountains in the Rain (Kazanyoku'u)

Still with the fragrance of dripping wet ink,
Deep mountains in the rain painted in the
manner of Mi Fei.
How can one know if an artist is good or bad?
It all resides in the tip of the artist's brush.

I write this colophon on Kashō Sanjin s "Kazan yoku'u"
—Ōkubo Shibutsu

In the hot, humid days of summer,
I look at the rain-drenched hills.
The bright sun glistens over the shower-
washed foliage
And fresh air cools the world of men.

Twentieth day of the seventh month of
the Year of the Dragon. For over a month
it has not rained. The heat is unbearable.
Unrolling this scroll I am refreshed, and
write this poem with a glad heart.
—-Shinozaki Shōchiku

Fishing Boat at the Reed-Covered Bank (Katei kinshū)

A lone fishing boat on a cold river.
Withered reeds rustle in the wind.
A fisherman pulls in his rods.
By which route is he heading home?
He must be off to a meeting of the Night
Tide Society.[1]

I write this colophon on Kashō’s ''Katei kinshū
—Kameda Bōsai

Evening Glow in a Mountain Village (Koson henshō)

Smoke in the trees and a slanting bridge by
a cove at sunset.
Villagers come and go in the caps and robes
of yore,
Unaware that their garb evokes bygone times.
Outsiders see them as figures in a painting.[2]

Composed after seeing the painting
—Rokunyo

Although now mounted as hanging scrolls, these nine sheets were formerly pasted in a book, together with eight other calligraphies. They were in this format at least until 1917, when the Ike Taiga sakuhinshū (The Works of Ike Taiga) was published.[3] Shortly thereafter, the nine leaves were mounted separately, leaving the eight remaining colophons in the book. The scrolls were acquired by the Burke Collection from different sources. The album, a gift from the late Yabumoto Sōshirō, of Tokyo, makes it possible to view the entire set as it appeared in its former, though not original, state. Among the eight colophons still remaining in the album, one dated to 1799 is by Taya Kei of Shimotsuke Province (Tochigi Prefecture), who explains how he came into possession of the four paintings. He states that he found them mounted on small sliding screens at the home of a certain Yuzawa in Nikkō; and indeed, the faint marks on each of the paintings suggest that they were once pasted on sliding doors. Impressed by their beauty, he succeeded in exchanging them for his own paintings. He then began to assemble appropriate colophons by famous calligraphers to complement the paintings, and gradually the album took shape.

The seven other colophons that remained in the album were written by Ōkubo Tadanari (1766–1851), the daimyo of Karasuyama fief in Shimotsuke Province, who gave the album its title, Sansui sei'in (The Pure Sound of Mountains and Waters); Tachihara Suiken (1744–1823), of Mito Province (Ibaraki Prefecture), a Confucian scholar whose colophon is dated to 1818; Hayashi Seiu (1793–1846), a Confucian scholar serving the government in Edo; Ikeda Kanzan (1767–1833), the daimyo of Wakazakura fief, who wrote his colophon in 1821; Suiken's son Tachihara Kyōsho (1785– 1840), a nanga painter whose colophon is a faithful copy of Kanzan's; Shokatsu Kentai (1748–1810), a Confucian scholar employed by the daimyo of Himeji, whose colophon is dated 1800; and Hōzan, a monk from Awatani, Shimotsuke Province.

If Taya Kei's colophon is to be trusted, Taiga's four paintings were probably made for the Yuzawa family in Nikkō. Taiga visited the Nikkō area in 1748, while on a trip that included a visit to Mount Fuji and Matsushima, though on stylistic grounds the four paintings are dated slightly later. Two of the seals on the paintings—"Mumei" and "Taisei"—are known to have been used only after 1749. The calligraphy for the titles also suggests that Taiga was in his thirties when he inscribed them.[4] In 1760, at the age of thirty-seven, Taiga returned to the Nikkō area with two of his closest friends, Kan Tenju (1727–1795) and Kō Fuyō (1722– 1784). The three artists spent nearly two and a half months traversing the mountainous regions of Shinshū and Nikkō, eventually climbing Mount Fuji. Very possibly, Taiga painted these four landscapes on this journey.

[Miyeko Murase 2000, Bridge of Dreams]

[1] The Night Tide Society was an informal group of writers led by the Song loyalist Xie Ao (1249–1291) in Hangzhou after the Mongol conquest.
[2] Translations after Stephen D. Allee.
[3] Tanaka Ichimatsu et al. 1917–19, no. 197.
[4] Ibid.

Signature: Shibutsu gyo
Shōchikusai saku

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.

Tokyo National Museum. "Nihon bijutsu meihin ten: nyūyōku bāku korekushon," May 21, 1985–June 30, 1985.

Ishikawa Prefectural Museum. "Nihon bijutsu meihin ten: nyūyōku bāku korekushon," July 13, 1985–August 11, 1985.

Nagoya City Art Museum. "Nihon bijutsu meihin ten: nyūyōku bāku korekushon," August 17, 1985–September 23, 1985.

Atami. MOA Museum of Art. "Nihon bijutsu meihin ten: nyūyōku bāku korekushon," September 29, 1985–October 27, 1985.

Hamamatsu City Museum of Art. "Nihon bijutsu meihin ten: nyūyōku bāku korekushon," November 12, 1985–December 1, 1985.

New York. Asia Society. "Art of Japan: Selections from the Burke Collection, pts. I and II," October 2, 1986–February 22, 1987.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Paintings of the Nanga School," January 27–May 13, 1990.

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.

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. 108.

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. 264, cat. no. 326.