(1) Fukada Chokujō (1861-1947) 深田直城
“Playing with Monkey”
Signed: “Chokujō.”
Seals: Fukuda Takashi in; Chokujō
(2) Fukada Chokujō (1861-1947) 深田直城
“Woodcutter by Stream”
Signed: “Chokujō.”
Seals: Fukada Takashi in; Chokujō
Born in Zeze, Shiba prefecture; raised in Kyoto. After studying with Morikawa Sobun, in 1886 moved to Osaka; active there until 1914 when he moved to Nishinomiya. Trained a good number of students, several of whom contributed to the present album.
(3) Umemura Keizan (1866-1925) 梅村景山
“Fishing Village”
Signed: “Keizan.”
Seal: Keizan gain
(4) Umemura Keizan (1866-1925) 梅村景山
“Bird on Flowering Branch”
Signed: ”Keizan.”
Seal: Keizan gain
Born and active in Kyoto. Studied painting with Imao Kainen.
(5) Hagio Kyuko (1862-1922) 萩尾九皐
“Landscape in Mist”
Signed: “Painted by Osai.”
Seal: Kyuko
(6) Hagio Kyuko (1862-1922) 萩尾九皐
“Fisherman”
Signed: “On a winter day in the year 1900, Osai.”
Seal: Kyuko
Born in Kamituma, Fukuoka. Studied painting with Kano Bairei in Kyoto. Moved
to Osaka in 1998.
(7) Hirai Chokusui (b. 1861) 平井直水
“Landscape with Boat”
Signed: “Chokusui.”
Seal: Chokusui
(8) Hirai Chokusui (b.1861) 平井直水
“Che Yin (d.400) Reading by Light of Fireflies”
Signed: “Chokusui.”
Seal: Chokusui
Born and active in Osaka, Chokusui studied painting with Fukada Chokujō.
(9) Ōtsuka Shunrei (1861-1944) 大塚春嶺
“Classical Beauty”
Signed: “Shunrei Ōtsuka Sō.”
Seal: Shunrei
(10) Ōtsuka Shunrei (1861-1944) 大塚春嶺
“Landscape”
Signed: “Shunrei.”
Seal: Shunrei
Born in Sonobe, in Kyoto, Shunrei with Fukada Chokujō. Active in Osaka. Later moved back to Sonobe.
(11) Shiba Kando (?) 芝貫道
“Bird on a Flowering Branch”
Signed: “Shichi ju shichi ō Hyakuhyaku.”
Seal: Shiba Kandō in
(12) Shiba Kando (?) 芝貫道
“Birds Near Autumn Thicket”
Signed: “Shichi ju shichi ō Hyakuhyaku.”
Seal: Shiba Kandō in
(13) Suwabe Chokutei (?) 直亭
“Cherry Blossoms in Moonlight”
Signed: “Chokutei.”
Seal: Chokutei
(14) Suwabe Chokutei (?) 直亭
“Byōdōin Temple”
Signed: “Chokutei.”
Seal: Chokutei
Born in Nagano; studied painting with Kodama Kate and strongly influenced by Tanomura Chokunyu. His name derived as a combination of those of his two teachers. Mostly active in Nagano.
Fukada Chokujō, the painter of the first two leaves of this album, was born in ZeZe, Shiba prefecture, but at an early age he moved to Kyoto to study with Morikawa Sobun (1847-1902) and there he achieved some fame. In 1866 Chokujō, moved to Osaka and was active there until 1914. His students included Hagio Kyuko (1862-1922), Hirai Chokusui (b. 1861), and Ōtsuka Shunrei (1861-1944), each of whom contributed two leaves to the present album. While Shiba Kando (?) is not recorded in standard sources, his contribution of two leaves suggests he too might have been a student and was part of this group while Umemura Keizan (1866-1925), born and active in Kyoto, and Suwabe Chokutei (?), a student of Kyoto’s Tanomura Chokunyu (1814-1907), are also linked to Chokujō and perhaps to his circle by virture of their contributions to the album. The paintings were executed on the same silk, cut to the same size and several simply signed and accompanied by one seal. An important exception is the second leaf by Hagio Kyuko (1862-1922) whose short inscription gives the date as the year 1900, and we might assume the entire album was done around that time. The album is a delightful compilation of figural, bird-and-flower, and landscape subjects, the painter of each as highly accomplished as the next. While some of the compositions are more inventive and creative than others, these paintings are refreshingly traditional and therefore most appealing to traditionalists such as ourselves at Kaikodo.
Album cover