Bamboo and Rocks

Description

Chikutô is regarded as one of the leading masters of the “third generation” of literati (amateur scholar-artist) painters in Japan—a generation that had direct access to imported Chinese paintings. He is best known for his faithful interpretations of Chinese painting styles and he was also a prolific author of painting treatises.
Chikutô was a native of Nagoya, an important urban center between Kyoto and Edo (present-day Tokyo). The son of a prominent physician, Chikutô began studying painting at age fourteen. He was soon taken into the household of a wealthy
collector, Kamiya Ten’yû, under whose tutelage he was able to view large quantities of first-rate Chinese painting and given a Chinese painter’s name. Chikutô’s exposure to orthodox Chinese literati painting is evident in this work. Bamboo and rock were preferred subjects of such paintings because of their association with
the Confucian ideal of resilience in the face of hardship. There is a self-imposed discipline in the way Chikutô restricts his vocabulary of brushstrokes. The result is a very orderly image that suggests something of the artist’s personality.
Spring/Summer Gallery Rotation 2015