Minoo Waterfall, 1744.
Ike Taiga: Life and Reason
Bekki Hagen
On June 6, 1723 a boy named Matajiro, who would later grow up and be known as Ike Taiga, was born in northern Kyoto and would forever influence Japanese art. He was born into generations of farmers, but at the age of three his father died. He remained with his mother and other relatives, who also worked for the silver mint in Kyoto’s Ryogaecho. At age six, he studied calligraphy with Issei of Seikoin. At age five and 12, Taiga studied recitation. At the age of 14, while living with his mother, he opened up a shop and began selling Chinese style painted fans. As he was selling these fans, he began studying Chinese paintings, and again returned to study calligraphy, though under a new teacher.
When Taiga was 15, he opened up a shop selling stone seals. After meeting Ryu Rikyo, Taiga followed Rikyo to his residence. The next three years Taiga gained instruction from Rikyo on the laws of painting and coloring. From 1741-1752, Taiga spent a great deal of time traveling and moving around Japan, seeing many great sights and meeting many influential people in the art world both from Japan and China. Sometime around 1752 Taiga’s mother passed away, and sometime after her death Taiga married Gyokuran. From 1753 till his death on May 30, 1776 Taiga continued to study great art, including that from China; travel around and climb several mountains; and held a few exhibitions. Throughout all these times, Taiga really began to be known as one of the leaders of the bunjinga style paintings. (Takeuchi, 166-168)
Some may say that Ike Taiga is a legend when it comes to landscape paintings in the style of bunjinga. A look through the history of his paintings will show the many different aspects of his life and his influences. As his life progresses we see his paintings begin to have more of his own concepts and how they work with all of the many different influences he has come in contact with.
One of the earlier works created by Taiga is very much influenced by Chinese paintings. Minno Waterfall, 1744, is a hanging scroll, where even the format of the long, elongated paper is similar to the format popular in 16 th century China. The colors in this painting are also very Chinese; the colors were a large part of Chinese wood block manuals. These colors, pink and blue, also have an appearance in Japanese art, but those that use it are often closely connected with Chinese literati art. In Minoo Waterfall, Taiga’s influence of composition and brushwork comes from Chinese wood block books, and is very similar to one in particular with the name of Hasshu gafu. Another Chinese addition to Minno Waterfall is the title which is written in Chinese clerical script. Up until this time, this clerical script was only seen on Chinese handsrolls, where they were given more of an antique quality, and Taiga was the first to use them in his Japanese paintings. Minno Waterfall has it’s influential beginning on Japanese Literati school. (Takeuchi, 7-12)
Wondrous Scenery of Mutsu. 1749
Taiga does not learn solely from the Chinese; in the upper half of his twenties, Taiga turns to Japanese traditions to grow with his artistic abilities. This is also about the time when travel begins to be big for Taiga. His handscroll, Wondrous Scenery of Mutsu, 1749 shows both of these influences. These paintings were made after Taiga traveled throughout the Matsushima area in Northern Japan. Wondrous Scenery of Mutsu, is made up of 3 sections where it depicts a semicircle of scenery around the Matusushima Bay, scenery around the Ishinomake Bay, and the third scroll is the ending of the trip at the island of Kinkazan. Taiga usesvery loose strokes, and covers a large area of land. This is not a factual representation of the area, but more about what Taiga saw and how he felt he wanted to represent the area. This loose brush style and selective focus was done by other Japanese artists, and some say that Taiga tried to imitate their style. In comparing Minno Waterfall and Wondrous Scenery of Mutsu, we can see the change from flat scenery to vastness of land. These changes help show how Taiga’s constant desire for knowledge influences his paintings. (Takeuchi, 16-19)
Daibutsukaku(The Great Bubbha Hall), From Six Sights in Kyoto. 1750's.
Another influence on Taiga’s painting is the Chinese Woodblock Manuals. In one well known Chinese woodblock print book, Mustard Seed Garden Manual, things like “hints for grinding color,....sizing silk...., or preparing gold” are laid out for the artists of the Chinese scholar-gentleman of the Southern school persuasion. (Takeuchi, 26) Daibutsukaku (The Great Buddha Hall) from Six Sights in Kyoto, mid 1750's, shows us how Taiga used the Mustard Seed, and one artist represented in it- Mi Fu, to create a new style of painting. Mi Fu’s style of using horizontal oval dots to create bamboo is seen almost identically in Daibutsukaku.
Fuji in the Twelve Months, 1762 or 1763, is the start to Taiga’s mature style with it’s complete blend of both Chinese and Japanese techniques and his life experiences. Fuji in the Twelve Months, is the start of “combining empirical study and poetic metaphor” (Takeuchi, 52). In 1765, Taiga wrote a poem about his concern with poetic metaphor in paintings. In his poem he “refers to painting as ‘soundless poetry’” (Takeuchi, 53) The 12 scrolls are broken down into 4 seasons. The first three scrolls represent Spring, scrolls four, five and six represent Summer. Autumn is represented in scrolls seven through ten, and the last two scrolls are of Winter. The scroll shown here is the Third Month: Fishing Huts amid Willows and Peach Trees. Not only did Taiga show the typical atmosphere and feeling of the month, but he also depicts seasonal activities to “enhance the lyric mood.” (Takeuchi, 62)
As one looks through the artistic changes from Minno Waterfall to Wondrous Scenery of Mutsu through Six Sights in Kyoto and finally Fuji in the Twelve Months a progression of his life experiences and maturity can be seen. When looking at his final pieces, pieces like Nachi Waterfall, which were created near the end of his life, his unique style was that of a combination of many different traditions and techniques, that not only cross time periods, but that also cross cultures.
Bibliography: Takeuchi, Melinda. Taiga's True Views. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California. 1992.