IKE Taiga

1723-1776

Japanese

artist, painter, calligrapher

"Taiga was of the Nanga School. However, he also practised other techniques, as illustrated by two of his oldest known paintings, both dated 1744 and recalling other Chinese styles. He learned shitoga (finger painting) from Yanagisawa Kien. This technique, which involved the use of fingers, nails and the palm of the hand instead of the brush, enjoyed much popularity in Qing dynasty China (1644-1911). Taiga was born near Kyoto. Although not wealthy, his family was able to give him a fine education. He quickly revealed a very precocious talent for calligraphy - there exists a remarkable piece of calligraphy executed at the age of three - and was entrusted to scholarly monks for his learning. He was one of the greatest calligraphers of the Edo period (1615-1869), a talent evident in his paintings: whether his lines and marks were fluid or angular, the skeleton of his compositions would always have the impact of a calligraphic symbol. He first learned painting from Mitsunobu (1700-1772); however, he learned about scholarly or literary painting from a Chinese album, the Eight Albums of Painting (Hasshu Gafu) produced around 1620 and edited in Japan in 1671. It revealed the aesthetics of literary painting, a technique he mastered when he was 15 with the help of Yanagisawa Kien, (called Ryu Rikyo, 1704-1758), one of the first Japanese masters in this school. In 1750, he met Nankai (1676-1751) in Wakayama, who guided his learning and gave him an album by the Chinese master Xiao Chimu. Taiga also travelled around Japan and climbed famous mountains, notably Mount Fuji, such was his desire to understand the intimate workings of nature's landscapes. The experience would result in an entirely personal form of expression which, although realistic in terms of conception of space, differed from that of Maruyama Okyo (1733-1795) whom he met. The latter was attempting to grasp the essentials by expressing their external aspect while Taiga sought to express the soul of a landscape. With his knowledge and real experience as starting points, Taiga's vision would then develop in an entirely impressionistic way. While the paintings of Taiga's youth already showed virtuosity and a bold, open spirit which guaranteed him a reputation very early, as he approached his thirties, his work became outstanding. He gradually left the shito-ga style and began to return to the Japanese monochrome style of the Muromachi period (1338-1573) and the decorative idiom of the Sotatsu-Korin school. (Sotatsu was active around 1630; Korin lived from 1658 to 1716). Taiga also looked to European painting which, towards 1748, strengthened his sense of composition, his stereoscopic vision and his perception of light effects. He reached the peak of his style towards 1760, when his work became a masterful synthesis, wonderfully diversified, remarkable for its power, fluidity, perfect composition and brilliant monochrome colour effects." -Oxford Art Online

Japanese Ink-Painting and Calligraphy:1400-1957 A.D. subject

Japanese Ink-Painting and Calligraphy:1400-1957 A.D. subject