Chinese Paintings and Calligraphy Formerly Owned by Ichikawa Beian
-
Miaosha jing Sutra in Standard Script (detail), By Emperor Shenzong, Ming dynasty, dated 1601 (Gift of Mr. Ichikawa Sanken)
Asian Gallery (Toyokan) Room 8
May 31, 2016 (Tue) - July 18, 2016 (Mon)Ichikawa Beian (1779–1858) was born as the eldest son of Ichikawa Kansai, a renowned Confucian scholar and a composer of Chinese-style poems. At the age of 20, Beian opened the calligraphy school Shozanrindo, where he taught as many as 5,000 pupils. He is one of the three great calligraphers of the late Edo period in the 19th century, together with Maki Ryoko from Edo (now Tokyo) and Nukina Kaioku from Kyoto. Beian is also renowned as a collector of various objects, including Japanese and Chinese paintings, calligraphy, ink rubbings, antiques, and stationery, for which he published the Illustrated Catalogue of Calligraphy, Paintings, and Stationery from the Shozanrindo Collection. Beian’s collection was once dispersed and lost after his death, but was later re-collected and donated to this museum by his grandson, Ichikawa Santei, in 1876, and his son, Ichikawa Sanken, in 1900. As the museum’s initial collection of Chinese calligraphy and painting, these donated works are of utmost value.
Beian’s collection preserved by the museum today includes a number of works featured in the above-mentioned catalogue, as well as those that are not widely recognized in the history of calligraphy and painting.
Current exhibit includes:
Plum Blossoms, By Chen Lu, Ming dynasty, dated 1446 (Gift of Mr. Ichikawa Sanken)
Wangchuan in Mist and Clouds, By Xie Shichen, Ming dynasty, 16th century (Gift of Mr. Ichikawa Sanken)
Flowers and Birds of the Four Seasons, By Wang Gang, Qing dynasty, 18th century (Gift of Mr. Ichikawa Santei)
Landscape, By Liu Su, Qing dynasty, 18th century (Gift of Mr. Ichikawa Santei)
Thirteen Postscripts for the Preface to the Poems of the Orchid Pavilion Gathering, By Qian Bo, Ming dynasty, dated 1454 (Gift of Mr. Ichikawa Sanken)
Miaosha jing Sutra in Standard Script, By Emperor Shenzong, Ming dynasty, dated 1601 (Gift of Mr. Ichikawa Sanken)
Document Known as "Chunxi ling", Southern Song dynasty, dated 1184 (Gift of Mr. Ichikawa Sanken)
Postscript for Buddhist Verse by Zhongfeng Mingben, By Chushi Fanqi, Yuan dynasty, dated 1349 (Gift of Mr. Ichikawa Sanken)