Uragami Gyokudo
A literatus painter of the middle and late Edo period. Though he was a samurai in the service of his lord, he devoted himself to painting, writing Chinese poetry, and playing the qin (Chinese zither), and at age 50 he left this service and traveled about the country
1745-1820
Uragami Gyokudo was a painter in the Chinese literatus tradition active from the middle to late Edo period. During his lifetime, however, he was better known as a poet writing Chinese poems and as a musician playing the qin (seven-string Chinese zither). His family name was Ki, his personal name 孝弼, read either Kohitsu or Takasuke, and his courtesy name 君輔, read either Kunpo or Kunsuke. People commonly called him Hyoemon. At first he used Bokusai as his artistic name, but later he used Gyokudo. He was born into a family that served as retainers to the Kamogata domain, a branch domain of the Ikeda domain in Bizen Province. He was given the important position of personal attendant to the domain lord Ikeda Masaka, who was one year his senior, but Masaka died of illness when Gyokudo was just 24 years old. The premature death of his beloved lord was such a great shock to Gyokudo that he gave up feudal affairs and devoted himself to art. He also excelled at scholarship, but ever since his youth he enjoyed playing the qin, and while in Edo he studied the qin under Taki Rankei. In 1779, at the age of 35, he acquired a qin made by the Ming (1368-1644) qin maker Gu Yuanzhao and bearing an inscription. The inscription reads 玉堂清韻 and means elegant and harmonious sounds of the jade hall. It is from this inscription that he took his artistic name Gyokudo (jade hall). In any case, playing this qin was a favorite pastime of his for the rest of his life. Around this time he studied painting by copying Chinese paintings, and he also carried out a correspondence with painters of the Southern School of Chinese painting, such as Tani Buncho. His interactions with literati increased, and the focus of his life became the qin, painting, and calligraphy, rather than domain affairs. Finally, at the age of 49, he quit his domain post, and the next year, at the age of 50, he began traveling with his two sons Shunkin and Shukin. At first he just went outside of the domain, but later he roamed widely about the country. Toward the end of his life he lived with the family of Shunkin in Kyoto.
Most of his extant paintings were done after 1811. During those years he combined ink washes of varying shades to create a unique style of landscape painting. Many of his works express feelings that speak to people of today, with the result that critics of late evaluate his work highly. His most famous work is Toun shisetsu zu (Snow Sifted through Frozen Clouds), a national treasure. This painting, a treasured item in the novelist Kawabata Yasunari's collection, uses delicate brush strokes to convey a profound dread of the harsh winter cold of the mountains. Other notable works of his include Enka jo (Album of Natural Landscapes), Sanko o sen zu (Mountains Dyed Red by Autumn Foliage), and Kokin yoji jo (Album of Musical Instruments and Other Things). A book of his Chinese poems has recently been published as Gyokudo kinshi shu (The Poetry of Gyokudo, the Qin Player). His son Shunkin was also a painter.
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Institutions Holding Related Materials
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所在地は群馬県高崎市。浦上玉堂筆「山中訪隠図」を収蔵している。常設展示は年数回の入れ替えを行う。
所在地は静岡県静岡市。浦上玉堂筆「抱琴訪隠図」を収蔵している。
所在地は岡山県岡山市。浦上玉堂筆「蘆隠老禅図」「秋景山水図」を収蔵している。
External Links
浦上玉堂筆「雙峯挿雲図」を所蔵。データベースから見ることができる。
浦上玉堂筆「煙雨模糊」を所蔵。データベースから見ることができる。
浦上玉堂筆「夕陽映松帆図」を所蔵。データベースから見ることができる。
浦上家史編纂委員会が運営するWEBページ。浦上玉堂の生涯、作品、二人の息子などについて詳細に解説されている。
References
- 浦上玉堂 [画],日本アート・センター 編,新潮社
- 浦上家史編纂委員会 編,浦上家史編纂委員会,学藝書院