Several questions exist regarding this Japanese ink painting entitled Bamboo in Mist. The painting is signed Kasho, one of the artist-names used by Ike Taiga (1723-1776). Taiga was one of the most important painters of the literati school (nanga) in Japan. The signature, placed at the upper right of the painting, follows an inscription that reads 'clear mist in the upper garden.' Two of Taiga's seals, one reading ike arima no in and the other sangaku doja, are impressed beneath the signature. A third seal reading zenshin soma hokkyo is impressed toward the bottom of the painting in the center of the bamboo.
The painting shows stalks of bamboo, some light, some dark, growing in front of a clump of rocks. The thin, elegant brushstrokes used to paint the stalks and the long, narrow leaves are comparable to those in many other images of bamboo attributed to Taiga. The interplay between light and dark shades of ink, found primarily in the depictions of the leaves, is also typical of Taiga's oeuvre. But the treatment of the stalks as straight lines that grow upward and the flatness of the leaves distinguish this work from paintings by Taiga, in which bamboo tends to sway and bend, moving up and down and twisting in the pictorial space. Furthermore, the brushwork in this painting lacks the exuberance and sketchiness that are the hallmarks of Taiga's style.
Taiga was an extremely prolific artist and his style was copied by many painters working in the 19th and early 20th centuries, many of whom had information on Taiga's technique owing to the publication of a book explaining his style and methods, the Taigada Gaho, after his death. It is not possible to determine the identity of the painter ofthis scroll. It is not impossible, however, that it was painted by one of Taiga's followers who knew the master's work well.
cxd
<p>Several questions exist regarding this Japanese ink painting entitled <I>Bamboo in Mist</I>. The painting is signed <I>Kasho</I>, one of the artist-names used by Ike Taiga (1723-1776). Taiga was one of the most important painters of the literati school (<I>nanga</I>) in Japan. The signature, placed at the upper right of the painting, follows an inscription that reads 'clear mist in the upper garden.' Two of Taiga's seals, one reading <I>ike arima no in</I> and the other <I>sangaku doja</I>, are impressed beneath the signature. A third seal reading <I>zenshin soma hokkyo</I> is impressed toward the bottom of the painting in the center of the bamboo.</p><P>The painting shows stalks of bamboo, some light, some dark, growing in front of a clump of rocks. The thin, elegant brushstrokes used to paint the stalks and the long, narrow leaves are comparable to those in many other images of bamboo attributed to Taiga. The interplay between light and dark shades of ink, found primarily in the depictions of the leaves, is also typical of Taiga's oeuvre. But the treatment of the stalks as straight lines that grow upward and the flatness of the leaves distinguish this work from paintings by Taiga, in which bamboo tends to sway and bend, moving up and down and twisting in the pictorial space. Furthermore, the brushwork in this painting lacks the exuberance and sketchiness that are the hallmarks of Taiga's style.</P><P>Taiga was an extremely prolific artist and his style was copied by many painters working in the 19th and early 20th centuries, many of whom had information on Taiga's technique owing to the publication of a book explaining his style and methods, the <I>Taigada Gaho</I>, after his death. It is not possible to determine the identity of the painter ofthis scroll. It is not impossible, however, that it was painted by one of Taiga's followers who knew the master's work well.</P>
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