Antique Japanese Ink Hanging Scroll Nakabayashi Chikuto Edo Period

Description

An ink painting on paper (Sumi-e) mounted with brocade borders as a hanging scroll. Entitled "Plum Blossom Under a Misty … more An ink painting on paper (Sumi-e) mounted with brocade borders as a hanging scroll. Entitled "Plum Blossom Under a Misty Moon", the artist was Japanese painter Nakabayashi Chikuto (1776-1853), accompanied by inscription of a composed complimentary poem by Nukina Kaioku (1778-1863). The nanga style painting (literati style) depicts a branch of Plum Blossoms in the snow under misty Moonlight. The work was dated to 1852, the year before the passing of the artist. The mastery of the use of ink was well demonstrated in this work, the strokes are bold, confident and effective, with negative spaces to realize the visuality of snow. Diluted ink was used in the background for the mist, surrounding a moon that again is an empty space. When hanging the scroll measures 70"h x 21.5"w. The size of the painting is 42.5" x 14".
The painting was mounted on a blue brocade background and comes in its original tomobako with ink inscription and several paper labels of the provenance. Same label was also affixed to the back of the scroll. The size of the tomobako is 23" x 3" x 3".
Provenance: Dawson's Book Shop, Los Angeles, California; Dr. Lenoir C. Wright, Greensboro, North Carolina; The Weatherspoon Art Museum, sold to benefit the acquisitions fund.
Reference. Similar ink painting of plum blossoms by the artist is in held in the collection in Los Angeles County Museum of Art (M.76.21.2). A painting with a comparable snow theme is in the collection of MET entitled Herons in the Snow (1975.268.108).

Born in Nagoya, Chikuto studied Chinese art and culture and his nanga style emulate Chinese ink paintings, especially works from the Yuan Dynasty and the techniques of Ni Zan. At the age of twenty, he opened his own studio in a small temple.
Kaioku, a contemporary of Chikuto, was also a painter and a leading figure in Chinese style calligraphy.
The plum flowers were adored by Chinese and Japanese literati for their delicate petals that bloom in cold weather. They represent a scholarly quality of strength and perseverance. The expressive painting highlights a branch of plum blossom in a geometrical form that was praised in one of the most famous and celebrated Chinese poem on plum blossom, written by Ling Bu in Song Dynasty. Covered in the dust of snow powders and under a half-revealed moon, the painting was enigmatic and full of literary reference. It was signed by Chikuto on the lower left side. The composed poem by Kaioku, written on the top right side was a word play inspired by Ling Bu's original lines. It was to praise the painter's ability to catch the true spirit of the plum blossoms. less