BackNo.39
MARCH,1935
On the Buddhist Painter Guilds of the Kamakura and Ashikaga Periods By Gisho Morisue.
On the Scroll-Painting representing the Story of the Chigo-Kwannon in the Ikedo Collection By Hajime Watanabe.
Wall and Sliding-Screen Paintings in the Kanrantei in Matsushima By Teizo Suganuma.
Some Old Japanese Paintings in European Style pretended as signed "Nobukata." By Tei Nishimura.
Explanation of the Plates.
On the Buddhist Painter Guilds in Nara of the Kamakura and Ashikaga Periods.
By GISHO MORISUE.
Part 1.
From the end of the Fujiwara period, The chief monasteries in Nara had each come to possess an Edokoroza, a kind of guild of Buddhist painters, engaged in the production of the Buddhist pictures for the monastery to which they belonged. These Edokoro-guilds in Nara developed step by step with the rise of the monasteries to which they belonged and played an important part in the history of painting in the Kamakura and Ashikaga periods.
The direct cause of the appearance of the Edokoro-guilds in Nara must have been the rebuilding of the two great maonasteries, Todaiji and Kofukuji, which took place at the beginning of the kamakura period, since after the completion of the buildings, the chief groups of the painters remained in the city and worked as painters attached to the monasteris. Thus, although in the extant documents it is not until the age of Bun'ei that the designation Edokoro-za can be found, in reality we may say that these guilds came into existence soon after the completion of the buildiing of the two monasteries in question. Among the Edokoro-guilds in Nara, we may mention three important ones: Handaza, Shibaza and Shonan'inza. These three belonged to the Ichijoin or Daijoin, subordinate small monasteries of Kofukuji, the most poweful monastery in Nara at that time.
The members of the Handaza belonging to the Daijoin Monastery can be traced in the genealogy of the House of Kose, one of the most important families in Japanese art history. In the genealogy, their names are mentioned with the marginal note, "Daijoin." According to the documents of the Daijoin monastery, we find that the first man of the Kose family to come to Nara from Kyoto was Yuson, who worked at the rebuilding of the Todaiji, which took place in the Kenkyu era (1190-1198) A.D.). Afterwards, this Handaza-guild came to be divided, through Yuson's two sons, into two branches: the Daijoin and the Ichijoin.
The Shibaza-guild belonged to the Ichijoin Monastery. It is regrettable that owing to the lack of documents relatin to the Ichijoin Monastery nothing is known of them except a little fragmentary knwledge, and we cannot yet trace even the succession of the painters. However, it is to be noted that we find the names of two famous painters-Kanjin and Songai among the menbers of the Shibaza-guild.
At first, the Shonan'inza-guild belonged to the Ichijoin Monastery, but later this guild become attached to the Daijoin Monastery. The Shonan'inza-guild has often been called by the name of Sonchi-Ryu-Edokoro (the painter guild of the Sonchi school). The history of the Shonan'inza-guild can be traced back to prince Tomohira, son of the Emperor Murakami. It was perhaps in the time of Sonchi that the ancestors of the Shonan'inza-guild went to Nara reflecting upon ths above-mentioned fact that the Shonan'inza in Nara was called "Painter guild of the Sonchi school." Besides, judging from his artistic career, it seems that at first Sonchi worked at Kyoto and afterwards removed to Nara. Sonchi was a distinguished painter at the time of Ken'ei and Teio (1206-1223 A.D.). His successors, Sonren, Kaichi and Myoson were also painters of note, whose names are often found in old documents.
Besides these three Edokoro-guilds in Nara, there was another guild belonging to the Todaiji Monastery. But at present, our knowledge of the history and artistic merits of the Todaiji Edokoro painter is so poor that nothing certain can be asserted. Again,there are other obscure painters whose names are seen in documents or in the inscriptions of paintings. The question of whether or not they belonged to any of the aboved-mentioned guilds or to other schools cannot be solved until further research is made.
Lastly, the author wishes to refer to the so-called Kasuga-Edokoro. Although a number of painters who used the name of Kasuga in the Kamakura period were believed to have been attached to the Kasuga Shrine in Nara, it has been found from the study of old documents that they had not necessarily lived in Nara. Besides, no proof can be given of the existence of an Kasuga-Edokoro. The auther cannot but conclude that the so-called Kasuga-Edokoro is nothing but a fanciful product of the imagination of the art historians.
On the Scroll=painting repesenting the Story of the Chigo=Kawannon in the Ikedo Collection.
By HAJIME WATANABE.
The theme of this scroll-painting, according to text, is the story Eleven-Faced Avalokitesvara of the Bodaiin Temple in the Kofukuji Monastery in Nara.
Once upon a time, an aged priest prayed to the Avalokitesvara in the Hase Monastery that he may be granted a disciple. After three years and three months of monthly visits to the Hase Monastery, one early morning, on his way home frome the temple, the priest met a lovely boy playing on a flute and made him his disciple. But after three years, death robbed him of his pupil. The mournful priest, in obedience to the boy's will, opened the coffin several days later and found therein a golden image of the Eleven-Faced Avalokitesvara.
The story tells that the lovely boy was indeed the incarnation of the Hase Avalokitesvara, and the image of the Eleven-Faced Avalokitesvar which is now enshrined in the Bodaiin Temple is the one that was found in the coffin.
Although the composition of this illustrated scroll is simple, consisting of only two chapters, each chapter including picture and text, the talent of the artist to arrange the changing scene of the story is worthy of praise. Besides, it is skifully executed and we can infer that this picture is a work of the end of the Kamakura period. The calligraphic style of the text, the construction of the buildihgs represented in the picture, and some chracteristics of the composition reveal traits of the above-mentioned age.
Though, in other books which tell the same story, the name of the priest and the dates of the events are expressly mentioned, they are ignored in this scroll. This is quite unusual in the proper "Engi-e" 1) of the Kamakura period. The painter seems to have aimed at a romantic effect rather than at historical accuracy. Therefore the present scroll cannot be properly called an "Engi-e" but may, according to its theme, rank as an early example of the "Chigomonogatari-e" 1), a kind of "Otogisoshi" 2) scroll-painting which came in fashion in the folowing period.
Size: H. 31.5 cm, L. 984.1 cm.
1) "Engi-e" is the type of scroll-painting which represents the history of a Buddhist monastery or Shinto shrine, the life of a saint-priest or legend of a Buddhist image. "Engi-e" was much in vogue in the Kamakura period.
1) "Chigomonogatari-e" is the type of Scroll-painting which represents the story of the affectionate relations between a priest and his boy-pupil in a monastery.
2) "Otogisoshi" is the type of popular literature which flourished in the later Ashikaga period.
Wall and Sliding=Screen Paintings in the Kanran=tei in Matsushima.
By TEIZO SUGANUMA
The Kanrantei is the mansion which stands on the headland of Tsukimizaki, to the south of the Zuiganji Monastery in Matsushima, a famous place in Miyagi prefecture. It is owned by Count Date, the former Daimyo. One room of this mansion is decorated with wall and screen paintings in the Momoyama style.
The wall and screen paintings, which consist of twelve pieces, represent a beatiful view of spring in deep colours on a gold ground. Under the tall maki-trees (Podocarpus chinensis) and Japanese cypresses are seen bushes and flowers blooming luxuriously by the side of a pond or under the shade of rocks. The effect is gorgeous.
These pictures form, on the whole, one series. Although some parts seem to be the work of another painter and there besides are certain traces of restoration, they were, for the most part, produced at one and the same time. It is clear at a glance that they belong to the Momoyama school by the brilliancy of their colour--gold and deep blue--and their grandiose composition. It should be pointed out, however, that in despite of their grandiose decorative style these pictures reveal the author's minute observation of nature.
Maki-trees represented in these pictures are not found in Japanese paintings until after the Kan'ei era (1624-1643 A.D.). The rocks are here represented in two different styles. Some of the rocks are painted sharp and angular with wrinkles, while the others have a rather rounded form and show no wrinkles. The latter kind of rocks were painted by the Kano school only after the Kan'ei era.
Judging from these points, these pictures seem to have been produced about the age of Keicho (1596-1614 A.D.), a period when Japanese painting had inherited the splendour of the Momoyama school without yet degenerating into the coarseness of the Gen'na and Kan'ei periods. The fact that not a single beast or bird is represented in these pictures may be worth notice.
With regard to the building itself, the archives of the House of Date and all extant records of Matsushima indicate that this mansion once belonged to the castle of Fushimi in the Kyoto-fu and that in the secood year of Bunroku (1593 A.D.), it was presented by Taiko-Hideyoshi to Date-Masamune, and having first been removed to Edo from Fushimi, it was carried to its present site.
The above-mentioned account is in accrdance also with the records of Fushimi Castle. Besides, architectural characteristics of the Momoyama style that are noticeable in various details of the builsing seem to confirm the information given in the documents. We may therefore date the production of these painting as being in the Bunroku era at the time when the mansion itself was built. The statement in the documents that the author of these pictures is Eitoku (1543-1590 A.D.) or Sanraku (1459-1635 A.D.), may be merely one of the conjectures that are so common in the case of such screen paintings. Even though these works bear a certain resemblance to the screen paintings of the Kangakuin of the miidera Monastery, it would perhaps be absurd to attribute these works to Kano-Mitsunobu simply because the pictures of the Kangakuin are ordinarily supposed to be his work.
Size of each wall-painting: H. 294.5 cm, W. 378 cm.
Size of each sliding-screen: H. 171.2 cm, W. 140.5 cm.
Some Old Japanese Paintings in European Style pretended as Signed "Nobukata."
By TEI NISHIMURA.
The group of pictures generally known as "the early occidental style paintings" were produced in the 16th century, during the period from the beginning of the propagation of the Roman Catholic Faith until the crudhing of the Amakusa rebellion (1637 A.D.), which resulted in the decline of the religion. In this group of works, besides purely religious works, there are some profane pictures: portraits of European nobles on horseback, pictures represent ing occidental manners, and decoratively painted maps of the world. Although these pictures are generally attributed to Yamada-Uemonsaku, a Japanese painter in the 17th century, in reality there is not a single piece that has been proved to be his work, and these occidental style paintings cannot be the work of a single man.
Although most of these works have no signature, there are some that bear a signature consisting of two characters which seem to read Nobukata and a seal like an European crest. The most notable of these are a pair of genre paintings in the collection of Mr. Mo Ikenaga of Kobe. In the one is represented a monk accompanied by two boys, in the other two cavaliers in conversation. To judge from the costumes, the monk seems to be a Franciscan and the cavaliers Spanish. The paint used in these pictures was of Japanese make, prorerly prepared so as to produce the offect of oil painting. Oil of walnut was used as the medium. This pair of works by Nobukata not only most closely resemble in style occidental oil painting, but are far superior in technique to any other Japanese paintings in occidental style of the period. The modelling of the face, the pattern of the costume are well executed, and shows the author's dexterity. But it is clear that these painting were no painted from life, because, although they show the author's originality in the arrangement of the figures, the delineation of the details an effort to imitate some archetype. Besides, the same type of figures are often found in other occidental style genre painting of the time.
The same can be side of other two works with the same signature: the one is "lady playing a violin" belonging to Mr. Mo Ikenaga, the other "Old man Reading" formerly in the possession of Mr. Shinsaku Sugiyama. The former closely resembles screen paintings in the Nambu Collection, and the latter also has many points in common with the screen paintings. We may, therefore, on accoount of these resemblances in style, ascribe some of these screen paintings, though they are not signed, to Nobukata.
Beside these painting representing European manners, Nobutaka painted purely Japanese subjects in occidental style. For instance, we can mention the portrait of Nikkyo Shonin posessed by the Seirenji Nonastery in Hyogo prefrcture and portrait of Daruma in the possession of the Yochikuin Monastery in Saitama prefecture. The former represents, in half length, the priest in question sitting before his desk. It shows the artist's refined technique in its realistic depiction. This portrait is very important, because we can infer the approximate date of this work by the fact that Nikkyo Shonin died in the thirteenth year of Keicho (1608 A.D.). This picture also reveals to us his way of treating his subjwcts. We can infer from the extant documents that he painted the same subject many times, and for this reason some other extant portraits of Daruma in the same style having neither signature nor seal may perhaps be attributed to him.
According to tradition, Yamada-Uemonsaku also painted a similar portrait of Daruma, and the author supposes that it was perhaps after the prohibition of Christianity that these artists came to paint Buddhistic subjects.
As to the question whether or not the signature really reads "Nobukata," the sollution must be waited for until further research has been made. With regard to the seal like an European coat of arms, it should be considered as one of the European style seals in vogue in Japan at that time.
EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES.
Pl. I. Image of the Goddes Nakatsuhime.
In the Yakushiji Temple, Nara-ken.
Painted wooden sculpture.
Height: 36 cm.
The present image has long had its place as an attendant goddess of the Hachiman Trinity in the Hachiman shrine of the Yakushiji Temple at Nara. It is quite probable that all three images of the Hachiman Trinity have bee enshrined in the present place the Kwanpyo era (889-897 A.D.) when the Hachiman shrine was consecrated, as they are executed in the style of the so-called Jogan period (794-894 A.D.). The treatment of the drapery and the rather grave expression as well as the stout, plump body show characteristics of Jogan sculpture, while the technical virtuosity and certain tenderness implied in this work seem to indicate the transitional style between the Jogan and the Fujiwara period.
The image is almost entiel carved out of one piece of wood, as only for part of the head and for the lowest portion other wood has been added.
The present colouring, which is in very good condition, may have been executed later than the sculpture itself, but it can not be dated later than the Fujiwara period.
Pl. VI & XV. Cherry-blossoms. By Yamamoto-Baiitsu (Japanese, 1783-1856 A.D.).
Formerly belonged to Marquis Masauji Hachisuka, Tokyo.
Triptych of Kakemonos. Painted in ink with slight colour on silk.
Size of each Kakemono: H. 89.3 cm., W. 33.6 cm..
The ground of the three pictures has been slightly tinted with China-ink, so that the white cherryblossoms stand out clearly from the gray background.
The painter of this tryptich, Yamamoto Baiitsu, was born in Nagoya and worked in Kyoto in the Bunjingawa style. In the thirties of the 18th century he held the hightest reputation as painter of bird and flower pictures. But, being endowed with an easy talent, his art was apt to fall into mere virtuosity. Yet, in the present pictures he is loyal to nature and consequently to realism.
Judjing by the calligraphic style of the signature and the maturity observable in these picthres, the triptych seems to be not earlier than the Tempo era (1830-1843 A.D.).