10. Minagawa Kien (1734-1807) Nanga
Mountain village on a summer eveningSigned: Minagawa Gen sha
Seals: Minagawa Gen in, Hakkyô uji
Technique: sumi on paper, 132 x 30.3
Mounting: blue damask
209 x 43.6
Condition: very good
Kien was born in Kyoto. He started his Confucian studies at the age of five and was teaching by the time he was twenty-five. He entered the service of the Matsudaira family of the domain of Kameyama in Tanba province. In the 1780s he was invited by the domain of Zeze in Ômi province to set up an education system. In 1805 he established a successful Confucian school in Kyoto, which attracted more than 3000 students, but the school went into a rapid decline after his death two years later.
Kien studied first painting with Mochizuki Gyokusen (1692-1755) and later with Maruyama Ôkyo (1733-95), Gan Ku (1749-1838) and Go Shun (1752-1811). From 1783 onwards, in spring and autumn, he organized the Shin Shoga Tenkan, the Exhibition of New Calligraphies and Paintings at the Sôrin-ji in Kyoto. Here he presented the work of many of his friends and colleagues.
Reference:
Roberts p. 78
Araki p. 1892 ff.
Rosenfield B.54
Beerens p. 105 ff.
Price: SOLD