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Plum blossoms
Plum blossoms

Plum blossoms

Artist (Japanese, 1716 - 1800)
Place of OriginJapan
Dateapprox. 1795
PeriodEdo period (1615-1868)
CultureJapanese
MaterialsInk on paper
DimensionsH. 13 1/2 in x W. 11 in, H. 34.3 cm x W.27.9 cm (image); H. 43 1/4 in x W. 12 in, H. 109.9 cm x W. 30.5 cm (overall)
Credit LineGift of Erik Thomsen
Object number2008.34
DepartmentJapanese Art
ClassificationsPainting
On View
Not on view
SignedSignature: "Beito'o hachijunen egaku" (Old man Beito painted this in his eightieth year) Seals: (Top) To Jokin in (The seal of To Jokin); (Bottom) Jakuchu koji (The lay monk Jakuchu)
More Information

伊藤若冲筆 梅図 一幅 紙本墨画 江戸時代 1795年頃

KYOTO painters

Ito Jakuchu, one of the most highly regarded individualist painters of the 1700s, is known for two distinct styles of painting flora and fauna: intricately decorated multicolored depictions on silk; and dynamic representations in ink on paper. The signature on this understated depiction of a single blossoming plum branch tells us that Jakuchu painted it at the age of eighty (by the Japanese method of calculating age), allowing us to date it to 1795. At this time in his life, Jakuchu lived in a cottage outside of the Obaku Zen temple Sekihoji in southeast Kyoto.