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Shibata Zeshin 柴田是真 / しばたぜしん
(1806 - 1891)painter and plastic arts, laquer ware.
ZESHIN means "the truth of truths".
. . . CLICK here for Photos of his work !:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
quoteShibata Zeshin
was a famous and revolutionary Japanese painter and lacquerer of the late Edo period and early Meiji era. In Japan, he is ironically known as both too modern, a panderer to the Westernization movement, and also an overly conservative traditionalist who did nothing to stand out from his contemporaries. Despite holding this odd reputation in Japan, Zeshin has come to be well-regarded and much studied among the art world of the West, in England and the United States in particular.
Zeshin was born and raised in Edo (modern-day Tokyo). His grandfather Izumi Chobei and his father Ichigoro were shrine carpenters (miyadaiku) and skilled wood carvers. His father, who had taken his wife's family name of Shibata, was also an experienced Ukiyo-e painter, having studied under Katsukawa Shunshō. This, of course, gave him an excellent start on the road to being an artist and craftsman. At age eleven, Kametaro, as Zeshin was called in his childhood, became apprenticed to a lacquerer named Koma Kansai II.
Zeshin learned not only the basics of painting and sketching, but also Japanese tea ceremony,
haiku and waka poetry, history, literature and philosophy. This would form the foundation of his training in not only the techniques of the traditional arts, but also, and perhaps more importantly, the aesthetic and philosophy of Japanese traditional art. Many of his works from the period of his studies with Nanrei were fan paintings. The great ukiyo-e artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi was impressed with these fan paintings and, approaching the young painter, began a friendship which would last for many years.
Zeshin later studied under other great artists of the Kyoto school, including Maruyama Okyo, Okamoto Toyohiko, and Goshin. Though he would later be known primarily for his work with lacquers, Zeshin excelled at traditional ink painting, and produced many works of traditional subjects such as tigers and waterfalls.
Though Japanese masters (sensei) are often quite egotistical and arrogant before their students, one of Zeshin's teachers is reputed to have made the comment that
"just as you cannot appreciate the size of Mt. Fuji while standing upon it, so you cannot truly appreciate my skill and reputation while in Kyoto; when you return to Edo you will realize my incredible import and your great fortune in having studied under me."
Zeshin, on the other hand, is reputed to have told his own students that he did not wish them to be known as
"a pupil of Zeshin's, but rather as a great artist who studied under a man called Zeshin."
Koma Kansai died in 1835, and Zeshin inherited the Koma School workshop. He took on a young man by the name of Ikeda Taishin as a pupil; Taishin would remain his pupil and close friend until his death in 1903. Zeshin married in 1849 and named his first son Reisai, but lost his mother and his wife both soon afterwards.
In the 1830s and 1840s, Japan suffered an economic crisis, and artists were strictly limited, by law, in their use of silver and gold, both nearly essential for traditional styles of lacquer decoration. Zeshin compensated by using bronze to simulate the look and texture of iron, and with a variety of other substances and decorative styles to keep his work beautiful, while remaining traditional and doable. Many of his pieces could be said to embrace the concept of wabi, that is, beauty and elegance in the very simple, as exemplified by the Japanese tea ceremony. Although very few of his Edo period (pre-1868) pieces survive, it is evident in many of his later pieces that he would use, at times, a very simple and nearly colorless style of decoration, while continuing to use the traditional designs such as flowers and reeds.
Beginning in 1869, Zeshin was commissioned to work for the Imperial government, and created many works of art for them which are sadly no longer extant. These included a set of gold-lacquered chairs for the Imperial Palace decorated in a sakura (cherry blossom) motif. He was later made Japan's official representative to several international expositions, including Vienna in 1875, Philadelphia the following year, and Paris. One year before his death in 1891, Zeshin was granted the immense honor of membership in the newly-created Imperial Art Committee. The honor of Imperial Commissioned Artists was only granted to 53 artists between 1890 and 1944.
Today, one of the greatest collections of Zeshin's works is the
Khalili Collections of London, containing over 100 works by the artist.
© More in the WIKIPEDIA !:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Shibata Zeshin: Masterpieces of Japanese Lacquer
from the Khalili Collection(Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Japanese Art)
by Joe Earle
Combining unparalleled technical skill with a highly individual decorative style, Zeshin's paintings and lacquers are imbued with traditional humour, energy and grace, but are fully in tune with the innovative spirit of Meiji-period Japan.
source : Oxbow Books 笠につく蝶と一つに都入りkasa ni tsuku choo to hitotsu ni Miyako-iri
on my straw hat
there is one butterfly
when I enter the capital:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
A Haiku Menagerie
edited by Stephen Addiss (1992)
The caged bird
envies the butterfly–
just look at its eyes!Issa
The introduction to this collection looks at the history of haiku and Japanese woodblock books and the relationship these two media have.
Addiss discusses their printed relationship as well as direct influence such as
Shibata Zeshin’s “Swallow” as a direct inspiration from an Issa haiku.
source : A Haiku Menagerie :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
English Reference Japanese Reference Featured in
Daruma Magazine 64 , 2009:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
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