Shibata Zeshin

Waterfall with monkeys, 1872.

Shibata Zeshin ( Japanese 柴 田 是 真 ; March 15, 1807 in Ryōgoku, Edo (today: Sumida , Tokyo ) - July 13, 1891 ) was a Japanese painter of the late Tokugawa and early Meiji periods .

life and work

Zeshin was born in Edo in the Ryogoku district. His children's name was Kitarō ( 亀 太郎 ), later Junzō ( 順 造 ). He learned the production of lacquer work with the master of the coma-school, Koma Kansai II ( 古満寛哉二世 ), after which he became a student of Suzuki Nanrei ( 鈴木南嶺 ; 1775-1844), of the Maruyama Shijō school belonged .

In 1830, Zeshin went to Kyoto to continue his education there under Okamoto Toyohiko (岡本豊 彦 ; 1773-1845) through the mediation of Nanrei . In 1833 he received his stage name Zeshin from Nanrei . Zeshin visited temples and shrines in Nara and Kamakura to see old lacquer work.

After the Meiji Restoration , Zeshin exhibited at the world exhibitions in Vienna (1873) , Philadelphia (1876) and Paris (1878) , and received awards in Japan. In 1879 he did all he could to found the "Dragon Pond Society" ( 龍池 会 , Ryūchi-kai ), which tried to preserve traditional Japanese values ​​in western Japan. In 1880 he was appointed a member of the art experts at the imperial court ( 帝室 技 芸 員 , Teishitsu gigei-in ). In 1891 he participated in the establishment of the Japanese Society for Lacquer Work ( 日本 漆 芸 会 , Nihon shitsugei-kai ). He is one of the greatest masters of lacquer work of the 19th century.

His eldest son Reisai (令 或) continued the tradition of his father.

photos

• 

  Fuji from Tagonoura.

• 

  Greeting card.

• 

  Autumn grass in the moonlight.

• 

  The seven gods of luck .

• 

  Six-part screen.

Remarks

1. ↑ This work is executed as maki-e ( 蒔 絵 ): this is a lacquer work in which gold dust is embedded.
2. ↑ This is a surimono ( 刷 り 物 ), a greeting card that is usually sent for the New Year. The year in the 60-year cycle on the map on the left mizunoe-saru ( 壬申 ) refers to 1872.

literature

• Tokushima Modern Art Museum (ed.): Kindai Nihon eno dōtei. Exhibition catalog, 1997.
• Laurance P. Roberts: Shibata Zeshin . In: A Dictionary of Japanese Artists. Weatherhill, 1976. ISBN 0-8348-0113-2 .

Web links

Commons : Shibata Zeshin  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Shibata is the family name, Zeshin the first name.