Rediscovered Painting by Kyoto Master Returns Home
Jakuchū scroll found in Europe causes stir in Japanese art scene
In the early afternoon of March 5, 2024, an illustrated scroll is carefully unrolled in the Fukuda Art Museum in Kyoto. Slowly, 40 types of fruits and vegetables appear on over 3 meters of light gray silk like on a market stall: apples, pears, plums, fingered citrons. Lotus roots, chestnuts, corn. A large winter melon bearing the artist’s signature and seals marks the end of the paintings on the scroll named Kaso Zukan (Fruits and Vegetables Scroll). The recent discovery of this work by Jakuchū, probably Kyoto’s best-known and -loved painter, is a sensation in Japan’s art world.
Itō Jakuchū (1716–1800) was born into a family of vegetable wholesalers at Kyoto’s famous Nishiki market. Although he was destined to continue the family business, he exhibited extraordinary artistic talent from a young age and was allowed to study under Ōoka Shuboku, a painter from Osaka.
Jakuchū didn’t respond well to the formality of the traditional Kanō school, however, and preferred to further his studies by painting everyday items and animals that he could observe closely at his home and the market. He is especially known for his realistic depictions of chickens, and his style proved popular with critics and buyers…
