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Okada Beisanjin (1744-1820) & Okada Hankô (1782-1846)
Nanga
Landscape
Signed: Beisanjin, Hankô sha
Seals: Denoku Shigen, Denshuku noin
Technique: sumi on paper 131.3 x 29
Mounting: (brown) bronze silk 185 x 38,8
Box: inscribed
Condition: aged, cosmetic restaurations of wormage, and some faint waterstains at the bottom, otherwise good

Beisanjin was one of the most radical and energetic bunjin expressionists. He was self-taught, mainly by copying from books. His brushstrokes are reminiscent of woodblock lines.

Beisanjin, an important Nanga artist, made his living as a rice merchant and he served the lord of Tsu as a Confucian scholar. His house was a gathering place for scholars and artists. Tanomura Chikuden (1777-1835) and Uragami Gyokudô (1745-1820) were his friends and Okada Hankô (1782-1846) was his son. He studied painting independently.

Reference:
Roberts p. 9
Cahill p. 107-108
Suiboku bijutsu taikei 1978, Vol.12
Beerens p. 122

Hankô was considered the foremost bunjinga artist of his time. He was a native of Osaka and the son and pupil of the well-known painter Okada Beisanjin (1744-1818). Like his father Hankô served lord Tôdô of Tsu as a minor official at the clan’s rice warehouse in Osaka. Hankô resigned at the age of thirty-nine in favour of his son. He joined the intellectual circles of Osaka and started travelling as a bokkyaku (‘ink guest’, exchanging paintings for hospitality).
He was befriended with many other important bunjin.

Reference::
Roberts p.38
Araki p. 498
Rosenfield B 73 (# 171-172)
Cahill p. 108 (# 53)
Addiss '76 p. 162 (# 62)

Price: ON REQUEST