Where to start with this beautiful presentation? The show, on loan from the Japanese Imperial Household to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Japanese gift of cherry trees to Washington in 1912, is magnificent. Set in one room, the show is a collection of 30 scrolls of animals and birds painted in the 18th century. This is one of them from the National Gallery's website.
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Itō Jakuchū
Peonies and Butterflies (J. Shakuyaku gunchō zu), c. 1757 (Hōreki 7)
ink and color on silk, from Colorful Realm of Living Beings (J. Dōshoku sai-e), set of 30 vertical hanging scrolls, c. 1757–1766
Sannomaru Shōzōkan (The Museum of the Imperial Collections), The Imperial Household Agency |
Each of them is about eight feet high and two feet wide and the subject matter varies from subjects like schools of local fish, phoenixes, and cockatoos, to beautiful blooming flowers and trees such as peonies, and peach, apple, and cherry trees.
The scrolls are lined up on either side of the room whose far wall houses a triptych of the Buddha and two boddhisattvas. These are easily missable, being copies of Chinese scrolls and painfully ordinary compared to the brilliance of the scrolls.
A warning for those who want to see these beautiful scrolls: The show closes in about ten days (April 29). Another warning: Be prepared for crowds. We went early on a Wednesday morning as the museum opened. By the time we left, at 11, the room was very busy. On a weekend, I would expect it to be very difficult to enjoy Jakuchu's wonders.
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