TAB Event - "The Ichikawa Beian Collection" Exhibition

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At Tokyo National Museum
Media: Painting, Calligraphy, Other

As well as being famous as one of the Three Distinguished Calligraphers of the Late Edo Period and being a calligraphy teacher with many students, Ichikawa Beian (1779-1858) was also an avid collector of art and antiquities. His collection is said to have included over 1000 pieces, covering a wide range of fields including Chinese and Japanese paintings, ink rubbings, antiques and stationery. In his later years Beian published the "Illustrated Catalogue of Chinese Calligraphy, Paintings and Stationery from the Shozanrindo Collection," featuring over 260 Chinese masterpieces from his collection. In commentary notes accompanying each entry he writes about the material and size of the object and explains how he acquired it, along with some historical speculation about some of the artists.

Following his death, Beian's collection was scattered and lost. However his son, Mr. Ichikawa Sanji (Sanken), went to great lengths to reassemble the collection and in 1900 he donated it to the Tokyo Imperial Household Museum (the present Tokyo National Museum). Prior to this, a group of calligraphy, paintings and ink rubbings that had been on loan to the Shoheiko (a Tokugawa government school focusing mainly on Confucian studies) was donated to the museum by Beian's grandson, Mr. Ichikawa Santei.

This exhibit features several items from the collection, including examples of Chinese calligraphy and paintings from the aforementioned catalogue as well as other items such as ink stones, brush stands and bronzes. Although some of the artists in this collection may not be famous names in art history, these are nonetheless precious resources for researching Edo culture.

It was said that Beian was so infatuated with Chinese culture that he would do anything, including pawning his clothes or going without food, as long as he could cover the costs of his collection. We present here a selection from this collection and hope you will enjoy it, too.

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