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“Sacred Jewel and Plum Blossoms in Ink”
Ikenobō Senjō, Nagasawa Rosetsu
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- Artist Name
- Ikenobō Senjō, Nagasawa Rosetsu
- Title
- “Sacred Jewel and Plum Blossoms in Ink”
- Dimensions
- painting：
Sacred Jewel: 28.5 × 28.5 cm
Plum Blossoms in Ink: 67.3 × 28.5 cm
full length： 192.5 × 28.4 cm - Medium
- ink on paper
- Description
- *Nagasawa Rosetsu (1754–1799)
Born in Hōreki 4 (1754) as the son of Uesugi Hikouemon, a samurai serving the Sasayama Domain in Tanba Province.
At the age of twenty-five, Rosetsu painted the Higashiyama Meisho-zu Byōbu (Screens of Famous Places in Higashiyama) at the residence of Maruyama Ōkyo, indicating that he had already become a member of Ōkyo's circle by that time.Between Tenmei 6 and 7 (1786–1787), he stayed in the Nanki (southern Kii) region, where he executed numerous large-scale sliding-door paintings. Many of these works remain preserved in local temples today.
Rosetsu died in Kansei 11 (1799) while traveling in Osaka.
He is said to have possessed a free-spirited and proud temperament, and many anecdotes surround his life, including claims that he was expelled by Maruyama Ōkyo or even poisoned. However, documentary evidence concerning his life is extremely scarce, leaving much of his biography shrouded in mystery. Today, he is regarded as one of the leading "eccentric painters" (kisō no gaka) of the Edo period, celebrated for his bold imagination and highly original artistic style.
The seal impressed on this painting is believed to have been used from after February of Tenmei 7 (1787), when Rosetsu returned to Kyoto from Nanki, until the early Kansei period.
Reference: Nagasawa Rosetsu: Ki wa Atarashii (Exhibition Catalogue), MIHO MUSEUM, 2011.
*Ikenobō Senjō (1768–1832)
A Buddhist priest and master of the Ikenobō school of ikebana during the late Edo period, born in Kyoto. He served as the head priest of Rokkakudō Temple and was the 40th Head Master (Iemoto) of the Ikenobō school. He systematized the rikka style of flower arrangement and laid the foundation for Ikenobō seika. He also studied painting under Gankō and was particularly renowned for his paintings of plum blossoms.