Wagtails, early 16th century
Kenkō Shōkeiexpand_more
Ink on paperexpand_more
Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundationexpand_more 2015.79.3.2
Not on Viewexpand_more
Kenkō Shōkei was both a Zen priest and a highly skilled ink painter who spent most of his career at the major Zen monastery Kenchōji in the city of Kamakura. Here he depicted a pair of wagtails on branches in strikingly contrasting poses. One stares down to the right as if aiming at some prey, while the other stands straight with a glance to the left. Shōkei painted his birds using a rapid brush technique called “boneless” (that is, without outlines), a method seen as particularly suitable for Zen themes. This combination of compositional device and technique suggests that these wagtails once flanked a third painting of a Zen deity or patriarch as part of a devotional triptych. Pictures of birds or flowers often served this purpose in Zen painting. But Shōkei’s original format seems to have been radically transformed by some later owner. Not only is the central painting missing but the vertical seams on each painting suggest that a previous owner cut up the original paintings to create two large horizontal compositions. The new format was less suitable for a Zen temple but fit the wide display alcove typical of grand residences. This type of conversion of a once sacred image to a secular one was not uncommon in Japan after the 1500s.
Details
- Title
- Wagtails
- Artist Life
- active before 1478–ca. 1523
- Role
- Artist
- Accession Number
- 2015.79.3.2
- Catalogue Raisonne
- Murase, Art through a Lifetime, no. 116
- 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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