Art in Japan>Asian Art 100B.C.E.-1930>Sesshu: 500th Anniversary

Original articles on art, artists, architecture, exhibitions, galleries, museums and cultural institutions around Tokyo, Japan.

Sesshu: 500th Anniversary

by John McGee

Few people are remembered on the 500th anniversary of their deaths. Farmers? No. Salesmen? Nah. Politicians? Perhaps one or two. Such honor is more often given to the greatest composers, philosophers, scientists and other creators. In Japan this year, that person is Sesshu, one of the most important painters in Japanese art history.

Sesshu, Autumn and Winter Landscapes, pair of hanging scrolls, ink on paper, 
46.3 x 29.3 cm each, National Treasures (Images courtesy Tokyo National Museum)

This is a rare chance to see so many of Sesshu's paintings in one place. This show, the prolific artist's first major retrospective in 50 years, draws from a wide range of Japanese, American, Chinese, and Taiwanese museum and private collections. Most of the 10 National Treasures, 23 Important Cultural Properties and 4 Important Art Objects are by Sesshu (including Long Landscape, a popular favorite). But they also include landscapes by his teacher Shubun, Catching a Catfish with a Gourd by the early master Josetsu, and several paintings by Chinese artists like Xia Gui.

Sesshu's name may sound familiar because one of his most highly regarded followers, Sesson, recently had a show at the Shoto Museum in Shibuya (2002). Sesson so admired the older artist that he changed his name in homage to the Muromachi master. This show is, if you will, the prequel to the Sesson exhibition. Sesson's wacky, psychologically charged imagery wouldn't have been possible without Sesshu's technically brilliant consolidation of styles. 

This show divides Sesshu's life and work into a series of artistic developments (his teachers, his trip to China) and different painting styles (landscapes, figures and flower, and bird paintings). To help understand Sesshu's creative milieu, the show includes a wide range of works by artists thought to have influenced his style. It also deals with a previously little-known element in Sesshu's career—his early work—by proposing that the artist known as Sesso (not Sesson) is actually Sesshu (apparently Sesshu changed the kanji in his name when he was about 45 years old). Finally, reproductions of lost, destroyed or otherwise missing Sesshu paintings are also on display. 

Sesshu, Hui Ke Offering His Arm to
Bodhidharma, 1496, hanging scroll,
ink and light colors on paper, 
183.8 x112.8cm, Important Cultural
Property

Born in 1420 in present-day Okayama Prefecture, Sesshu lived as a Zen monk in Kyoto until his mid-30s. In Kyoto, he studied under Shubun, regarded as the greatest artist of his time. From 1466 to 1469, Sesshu traveled to China as part of a diplomatic envoy to the Ming court. There he studied and copied the techniques and styles of renowned Sung Dynasty painters like Xia Gui (ca. 1200-50) and Ma Yuan (ca. 1190-1224). This influence appears in Sesshu's hatsuboku (splashed ink), Chinese figures, and copious landscape paintings based on Chinese models. The artist died around 1506. 

The only problems with this show are its popularity and short duration—it's only up for one month total. It's unbelievably crowded and stifling. But the last time an exhibition of this scale was held was on Sesshu's 450th anniversary, 50 years ago. This year, every retiree in the Kanto region is elbowing their way in for a view. They probably missed the last show. Don't make the same mistake. 

Sesshu: 500th Anniversary was held Apr-May2002 at the Tokyo National Museum, Ueno Park, Tokyo, Japan.

©2006 John McGee

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