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Lot Essay
These eleven hanging scrolls were from a set of twelve and might have been intended for a pair of screens, although their current storage box appears to be quite old. The theme of Chinese landscapes and figures is typical of Buson and other eighteenth-century literati artists of the Nanga school.
This set is probably from early in Buson’s career, between 1754 and 1757, when he was living in Tango. It is closely related to a pair of six-panel screens with twelve ink paintings of Chinese Immortals in similar style and date and also signed Shimei in a private collection in Japan (see Celebrating Two Contemporary Geniuses: Jakuchu and Buson [Tokyo: The Yomiuri Shinbun and the Suntory Museum of Art, 2015], pl. 25.)
Buson left his home in Osaka at age twenty and moved to Edo to study poetry. After his teacher died in 1742, he wandered for ten years in the north, returning in 1751 to settle in Kyoto where he lived in Zen monasteries. Then, in 1754, he traveled north to Tango province in what is now northern Kyoto Prefecture, facing the Sea of Japan. There he lived in Kensho-ji Temple in Miyazu Village, near the birthplace of his mother. He concentrated on mastering painting and studying Chinese albums of woodblock prints. He left Tango in 1757 and settled permanently in Kyoto, working as a professional painter.
These early landscapes are bold and direct in construction, each summarizing the seasonal mood. Buson favors a rough, abbreviated style with soft washes, and evocative, atmospheric touches such as heavy sheets of rain.
This set is probably from early in Buson’s career, between 1754 and 1757, when he was living in Tango. It is closely related to a pair of six-panel screens with twelve ink paintings of Chinese Immortals in similar style and date and also signed Shimei in a private collection in Japan (see Celebrating Two Contemporary Geniuses: Jakuchu and Buson [Tokyo: The Yomiuri Shinbun and the Suntory Museum of Art, 2015], pl. 25.)
Buson left his home in Osaka at age twenty and moved to Edo to study poetry. After his teacher died in 1742, he wandered for ten years in the north, returning in 1751 to settle in Kyoto where he lived in Zen monasteries. Then, in 1754, he traveled north to Tango province in what is now northern Kyoto Prefecture, facing the Sea of Japan. There he lived in Kensho-ji Temple in Miyazu Village, near the birthplace of his mother. He concentrated on mastering painting and studying Chinese albums of woodblock prints. He left Tango in 1757 and settled permanently in Kyoto, working as a professional painter.
These early landscapes are bold and direct in construction, each summarizing the seasonal mood. Buson favors a rough, abbreviated style with soft washes, and evocative, atmospheric touches such as heavy sheets of rain.