Bunchō gafu 　

FSC-GR-780.603

Commentary by Frank L. Chance

Posted August 2, 2016

Bunchō gafu (Bunpō’s picture album) appeared in 1862, two decades after Bunchō’s death, and gathers together snippets from Bunchō’s printed and painted work. They are recreated in abbreviated and sometimes sloppy renderings, with no clear sequence in their reorganization; they capture little of the power of the originals that inspired them.

The preface and afterword, both written in florid classical Chinese and lauding Bunchō’s accomplishments, offer little insight into the identity of the compiler or why they were published. The illustrations comprise calligraphy, birds, flowers, landscapes, and figures loosely based on motifs familiar to Bunchō aficionados of the period. The floating spiders seen in the artist’s Shazanrō gahon are here, but they are reduced to a half-page of scrawls, as is a branch of plum blossoms from the same source below on the same page.

Bunchō’s love of Mount Fuji is indicated by the repeated appearance of the peak no less than four times. It is also notable that no images from Bunchō’s (Nihon) meizan zue or any other meticulously realistic Bunchō paintings are included. The focus, instead, is on loosely brushed, nominally expressive works. In comparison with the crisp naturalism of (Nihon) meizan zue (FSC-GRC-780.601.1-3) or the lyrical elegance of Shazanrō gahon (FSC-GR-780.602), for this writer Bunchō gafu appears to be a much less sophisticated publication.

The Pulverer copy is in good condition, despite a few stains and some darkening of the paper. A catalog fragment relating to a different book by Bunchō’s follower Seki Bunsen is attached to the last page of the volume. A cursive, beautifully handwritten note also appears on the final page, probably composed by a previous owner. An affixed label obscures the writer’s signature.

Selected readings

Frank L. Chance, “Tani Bunchō,” in Grove Art Online (http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T083257).

Nakata Katsunosuke 仲田勝之助, Ehon no kenkyū 『絵本の研究』 (Tokyo: Bijutsu Shuppansha, 1950).

Timon Screech, The Shogun's Painted Culture: Fear and Creativity in the Japanese States, 1760–1829 (London: Reaktion Books, 2000).

Copies in other collections

Library of Congress, Washington, DC

National Diet Library (NDL), Tokyo (1893 edition)