Enjoy the summery scenes on fan paintings from the Chinese and Japanese reserve collection.
Little is known of the life of Oku Bunmei, except that he was one of the most talented pupils of the celebrated painter Maruyama Ōkyo. He displayed extraordinary control over the ink on his brush, seen here in the curling tendrils of the gourd plant. A master at transferring his careful observation of nature onto paper, he uses the minutest touch of bright yellow for the centre of the flower to enhance his variations in ink tone on the leaves, stems, and fruit.
Katz, Janice, Japanese Paintings in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, with an introductory essay by Oliver Impey (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2003), no. 25 on p. 98, p. 84, illus. pp. 98-99
Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.
Objects from past exhibitions may have now returned to our stores or a lender. Click into an individual object record to confirm whether or not an object is currently on display. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis, so please contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular Eastern Art object.
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