Wednesday, May 1, 2019

2016 Suzuki Kiitsu Exhibition Standard-bearer of the Edo Rimpa School Hoitsu's most prominent pupil

Title Suzuki Kiitsu Exhibition
Sub Title Standard-bearer of the Edo Rimpa School
Publication year 2016
This is a very rare exhibition catalogue of Suzuki Kiitsu,known as a a painter of the Edo Rimpa school and Hoitsu's most prominent pupil.More than 200 exceptional works are contained.All are shown in full color.Approx 7 pages and the list of plates are written in English.There are 340 pages in this catalogue.Relatively thick one.Recommended one!

The English foreword to this book says"
Suzuki Kiitsu (1796-1858) is a painter of the Edo Rimpa school, who was active in the late Edo period.
Rimpa was established in Kyoto by Hon'ami Koetsu and Tawaraya Sotatsu in the early Edo period and Ogata Korin, Ogata Kenzan, and others in the mid-Edo period.
In the late Edo period, Sakai Höitsu revived the Rimpa style in Edo. Adding new tastes and refinement,he created a new style called “Edo Rimpa.” Kiitsu was known as Hoitsu's most prominent pupil.
While inheriting the ornate tradition of Rimpa, Kiitsu's artistic style was characterized by vivid coloring, bold compositions, and opulent designs and was overflowing with a novelty that is still recognized to this day. He brought his versatililty into full play painting a variety of subjects including bird-and-flower paintings, landscape paintings, narrative paintings, genre paintings, Buddhist paintings, and seasonal festival paintings, and also working on hanging scrolls of painted mountings, fans, kites, battledores, and votive wooden tablets. Furthermore, Kiitsu trained his own son Suzuki Shuitsu and many other pupils, encouraging them to hand down the Rimpa style that continues to the present. Indeed, Kitsu played a spectacular role as a standard-bearer for Edo Rimpa.
The exhibition "SUZUKI KIITSU : Standard-bearer of the Edo Rimpa School”, held at Suntory Museum of Art, Himeji City Museum of Art, Hosomi Museum, and the Yomiuri Shimbun, brings together masterworks by Kiitsu on a scale unrivaled by earlier exhibitions both inside and outside Japan, offering visitors a rare opportunity to encounter the full range of his not-to-be-missed paintings.
We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to all the owners of the works for their understanding and agreement to exhibit their precious works and all others concerned for their cooperation in realizing this exhibition.