Plum Drawn from the Mind, first half 19th century
Baichi Dōjinexpand_more
Ink on paperexpand_more
Gift of Gordon Brodfuehrer in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Minneapolis Institute of Artsexpand_more 2014.109.2
On View in Gallery 237expand_more
The practice of painting blossoming plum branches in monochrome ink seems to have emerged in tenth-century China and became popular among the Japanese literati of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Delicate flowers budding from a wizened plum tree during the winter carry associations of longevity, renewal, and purity. The inscription, shai, meaning ‘drawn from the mind,’ is the opposite of shasei, or ‘sketched from life;’ indeed, this is a particularly free-spirited and imaginative interpretation of this subject. A variety of tones of ink applied in impressionistic splotches with a wet brush convey the vital splendor of a plum tree breaking into a profusion of blossoms at the cusp of spring.
Baichi was a priest of the Pure Land or Jōdo school of Buddhism, known for his poetry, calligraphy, and paintings of landscapes and flora.
Details
- Title
- Plum Drawn from the Mind
- Artist Life
- 1785 - 1859
- Role
- Artist
- Accession Number
- 2014.109.2
- Provenance
- (Watanabe Japanese Fine Arts)
- Curator Approved
This record has been reviewed by our curatorial staff but may be incomplete. These records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@artsmia.org.
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