Preliminary Drawing of Three Deer Mounted on a Hanging-scroll Painting of Flowering Bush Clover

early 18th century (drawing); early 19th century (painting)

Not on view

The simple but animated sketch of three deer is by Ogata Kōrin, the great Kyoko painter who was at his peak in the early eighteenth century, and the spontaneously brushed painting of bush clover surrounding it is by Suzuki Kiitsu, who was active in Edo (present-day Tokyo) a century later. Neither is a fully consummated or polished work by the respective artists, yet what this delightful collaborative composition signifies is how artists working under the rubric of Rinpa—literally, “the school of Kōrin”—looked back on the work of their predecessors for inspiration. Kiitsu and the patron who commissioned the work were paying homage to Kōrin—the Rinpa artist who inspired Kiitsu and his teacher Sakai Hōitsu to revive the painting style established by Tawaraya Sōtatsu of two centuries before. Kiitsu had entered Hōitsu’s studio in 1813, just two years before the two artists commemorated the centenary of Kōrin’s death by publishing One Hundred Paintings of Kōrin (Kōrin hyakuzu), and this work is probably from around that time.

Artwork Details

Title: Preliminary Drawing of Three Deer Mounted on a Hanging-scroll Painting of Flowering Bush Clover
Artist: Ogata Kōrin (Japanese, 1658–1716) (sketch of three deer)
Artist: Suzuki Kiitsu (Japanese, 1796–1858) (painting of bush clover)
Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
Date: early 18th century (drawing); early 19th century (painting)
Culture: Japan
Medium: Hanging scroll; ink, color and gold pigment on paper
Dimensions: Image (drawing): 11 3/8 × 15 in. (28.9 × 38.1 cm)
Image (painting): 31 × 18 3/8 in. (78.7 × 46.7 cm)
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Purchase, Bequest of Henrie Jo Barth, 2019
Object Number: 2019.105
Curatorial Department: Asian Art

More Artwork

By Ogata Kōrin

By Suzuki Kiitsu

In the same medium

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Coal container, Ogata Kōrin Japanese, Wood, metal, mother-of-pearl, lacquer, Japan — Coal container
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Incense Box with Flowering Plum Tree, Ogata Kōrin Japanese, Gold lacquer with gold hiramaki-e, black lacquer, and mother-of-pearl inlay, Japan — Incense Box with Flowering Plum Tree
Ogata Kōrin
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Camellias, Ogata Kōrin Japanese, Hanging scroll; color on paper, Japan — Camellias
Ogata Kōrin

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