Portrait of Sakai Ho-itsu

1829

Japanese, 1808 - 1841

Sakai Oho (1808-1841), second son of the head priest of Joeiji temple in Edo, studied art and literature under the guidance of Sakai Hoitsu, the founder of the Edo Rimpa school (later known by his Buddhist name of Tokakuin Bunsen Kishin), and became his adopted heir. After Hoitsu's death, Oho continued to follow his master's style. According to the inscription on the lid of the box containing the scroll, this rare work was drawn by Oho about five months after his teacher's death, and then it was passed down through the Sakai family. A gentle-looking priest in formal robe, sitting on a tatami mat holding a fan and prayer beads, shows both the elegant and plain sensibility of Oho himself, qualities appropriate to a stylish Rimpa artist portrait.

Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk

29 5/8 x 12 7/8 in. (75.2 x 32.7 cm)

Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection

67.101

Photo: Spike Mafford

Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Refined Harmony: Decorative Arts from the Edo Period, Mar. 7, 2003 - Mar. 23, 2004.

Tokyo, Japan, Suntory Museum of Art, Luminous Jewels: Masterpieces of Asian Art From the Seattle Art Museum, July 25 - Sept. 6, 2009 (Kobe, Japan, Kobe City Museum, Sept. 19 - Dec. 6, 2009; Kofu, Japan, Yamanashi Prefectural Museum of Art, Dec. 23, 2009 - Feb. 28, 2010; Atami, Japan, MOA Museum of Art, Mar. 13 - May 9, 2010; Fukuoka, Japan, Fukuoka Art Museum, May 23 - July 19, 2010).

Published ReferencesKawai, Masatomo, Yasuhiro Nishioka, Yukiko Sirahara, editors, "Luminous Jewels: Masterpieces of Asian Art From the Seattle Art Museum", 2009, The Yomiuri Shimbun, catalogue number 48

Saunders, Rachel and Yukio Lippit. Painting Edo: Selections from the Feinberg Collection of Japanese Art. Cambridge: Harvard Art Museums, 2020; p. 161, fig. 57.

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