Calligraphy and Painting Party

A CLOSER LOOK

The museum identifies this painting as hanging scroll; ink and color on paper and credits Kawanabe Kyōsai (Japanese, 1831–1889).

The museum's collection notes: In this collaborative painting, artists create works in response to patrons’ requests. Kawanabe Kyōsai painted the figures and outlines of the screens and scrolls, and 10 bunjin completed them. Each calligraphy and painting has a signature. Physician and calligrapher Nakane Hanrei (中根半嶺) (1831–1914) wrote “longevity” (壽) with an enormous ink-filled brush. Painter Fukushima Ryūho (福島柳圃) (1820–1889) did the plum on the folding screen, while Matsuoka Kansui (松岡環翠) (1818–1887) did the lotus; the two seem to be standing nearby, pointing others toward their accomplishment.