“Fourth Month” from Fujiwara no Teika’s “Birds and Flowers of the Twelve Months”
Kenzan, brother of the painter and designer Ogata Kōrin (1658–1716), was born into a wealthy merchant family in Kyoto. He is best known for his ceramic wares, having studied with the great Kyoto potter Nonomura Ninsei (active ca. 1646–94), but he was also a gifted painter and calligrapher. He took these poems from the Shūigusō (Gleaning of Worthless Weeds), a collection of verse by the poet and calligrapher Fujiwara no Teika (1162–1241). They read:
Robes of white cloth
should be aired out, they say,
just when summer arrives
and deutzia flowers in bloom
cause the hedge to droop.
In the village of Shinobu
where the cuckoo dwells,
its cry is now heard,
while we await next month
when deutzia flowers bloom.
Robes of white cloth
should be aired out, they say,
just when summer arrives
and deutzia flowers in bloom
cause the hedge to droop.
In the village of Shinobu
where the cuckoo dwells,
its cry is now heard,
while we await next month
when deutzia flowers bloom.
Artwork Details
- 尾形乾山筆 定家詠十二ヶ月和歌 花鳥図 『拾遺愚草』 より四月
- Title: “Fourth Month” from Fujiwara no Teika’s “Birds and Flowers of the Twelve Months”
- Artist: Ogata Kenzan (Japanese, 1663–1743)
- Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
- Date: 1743
- Culture: Japan
- Medium: Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
- Dimensions: Image: 6 5/16 x 8 15/16 in. (16 x 22.7 cm)
Overall with mounting: 43 1/4 x 19 in. (109.9 x 48.3 cm)
Overall with knobs: 43 1/4 x 20 5/8 in. (109.9 x 52.4 cm) - Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: The Harry G. C. Packard Collection of Asian Art, Gift of Harry G. C. Packard, and Purchase, Fletcher, Rogers, Harris Brisbane Dick, and Louis V. Bell Funds, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, and The Annenberg Fund Inc. Gift, 1975
- Object Number: 1975.268.65
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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Ogata Kenzan
1743
Ogata Kenzan
Ogata Kenzan
18th century
Ogata Kenzan
dated 1741
Ogata Kenzan
18th century
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