Album of Precious Works from Famous Early Modern Calligraphers and Painters (Volume 2)

1819

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Dominant colour

Album of Precious Works from Famous Early Modern Calligraphers and Painters (Volume 2) is a 1819 by Unknown, a Romanticism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Unknown
When & what style?: 1819 · Romanticism
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

You see a slim album of small paintings and poems by different Japanese artists from the 1800s. Each page shows a quiet scene—plum blossoms, bamboo, a traveler on a path—paired with handwritten verses. What’s special is how the book mixes art and words. The painters and poets knew each other, trading work like letters. The album feels like a conversation across years, not just a gallery. If you like this, look up Japan, Edo period (1615–1868) to see more of these quiet, personal works.

The story of this work

Overview

This album begins with a painting of plum and bamboo by Tanomura Chikuden (1777–1835) dated to the first day of 1818. It ends with an undated scene of someone going to visit a friend by Okada Hankō (1782–1845). In between are nine compositions by a variety of artists. There are poems and inscriptions by Rai San'yō (1780–1832) and Rai Shunsui (1746–1816). There are also paintings by Okada Beisanjin (1744–1820), Uragami Gyokudō (1745–1820), Nagamachi Chikuseki (1747–1806), Noro Kaiseki (1747–1828), Aoki Mokubei (1767–1833), and Nukina Kaikoku (1778–1863), who appends a poem to his composition.…

Read the full account in the museum source.