Shibata Zeshin
Japanese lacquer painter and print artist of the late Edo period and early Meiji era
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Unknown authorUnknown author · via Wikipedia: Shibata Zeshin · Public domain
He has been called "Japan's greatest lacquerer" but his reputation in Japan is debated as both too modern and overly conservative.[1] Active during the late Edo period and early Meiji era, Shibata Zeshin worked as a lacquer painter and print artist.[1]
Life and work
Beginning in 1869, Zeshin was commissioned to create works for the Imperial government, including a set of gold-lacquered chairs for the Imperial Palace.[2] He is the only artist recognized in both painting and maki-e fields of work.[2] He revived the complex seikai-ha lacquer technique, which had not been used for over a century.[3] By blending lacquer with various additives, Zeshin altered its color, texture, and pliability, exploring its technical possibilities.[4]
To stop his urushi-e scroll paintings from cracking when rolled, Zeshin devised a technique of applying lacquer sap onto paper that had been treated with dōsa (alum and animal glue).[4] Imitating the look of iron, Zeshin incorporated bronze into his lacquer, and he used cereal starch to give lacquer a thicker consistency, mimicking Western oil painting effects.[4] Because urushi-e demands specially prepared paper and a precise lacquer consistency, Zeshin is the only artist who has ever succeeded in this medium.[3]
What the cited sources add
The Khalili collection of 100 works by Shibata Zeshin is described as the finest in the world.[5] Joe Earle wrote the volume "Masterpieces by Shibata Zeshin" with an introduction by Japan's foremost Zeshin expert Goke Tadaomi.[5] That volume includes a fully-annotated translation of Zeshin's biography written by his son Ryushin in 1927.[5] Exhibitions of Zeshin's works have taken place at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Museum of Scotland, and Japan Society in New York.[6]
References
- Wikipedia, "Shibata Zeshin" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Earle, Joe, "Zeshin Redux", Orientations, Vol. 29, No. 2, March, 2008, p. 136 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Shibata Zeshin" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: O'Brien, Mary Louise, Martin Foulds, and Howard A. Link, The art of Shibata Zeshin, The Mr. and Mrs. James E. O'Brien Collection at the Honolulu Academy of Arts (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Shibata Zeshin" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: O'Brien, Mary Louise, Martin Foulds, and Howard A. Link, The Art of Shibata Zeshin, The Mr. and Mrs. James E. O'Brien Collection at the Honolulu Academy of Arts (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Shibata Zeshin" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: O'Brien, Mary Louise, Martin Foulds, and Howard A. Link, The art of Shibata Zeshin, The Mr. and Mrs. James E. O'Brien Collection at the Honolulu Academy of Arts; Doshin, Sato, Shibata Zeshin: From Lacquer Arts to Painting, Nezu Museum, Tokyo, 2012, p. IX (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- "MEIJI NO TAKARA - Treasures of Imperial Japan; Masterpieces by Shibata Zeshin", Khalili Collections. facts only, no text reused. khalilicollections.org
- Wikipedia, "Shibata Zeshin" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Japanese Lacquer, 1600-1900 : selections from the Charles A. Greenfield collection (pages 84-96); "The Eight Collections", nasserdkhalili.com; The Genius of Japanese Lacquer: Masterworks by Shibata Zeshin (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Shibata Zeshin (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
More in Asian And Middle Eastern Artists
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Shibata Zeshin (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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