Art Review: Sesson - Super Eccentric of Japan's Warring States Period

Tiger and Bamboo, 97 x 151.6cm, ink on paper.

"The last great Muromachi ink painter," "highly original," "progressive thinker," "super eccentric"—everyone seems to agree that Sesson Shukei was an innovative if not maverick ink-flinger. This traveling retrospective shows off his unique and far-ranging style, from misty landscapes to giant fish and flying Chinese sages.
Not much is known about the life of the Zen monk-painter. Sketchy records indicate that he was born in Ota, Hitachi Province (present day Ibaraki Prefecture) and lived roughly from 1504-89. He was active as a painter for at least 50 years, moving between patrons in Odawara, Kamakura, and Aizu (Fukushima).

In terms of art, Sesson claimed to be the spiritual successor of Japan's most famous sumi-e painter Sesshu—though the two never actually met—even adding the same kanji for snow (setsu) to his name. He also brushed up on the work of Chinese landscape painters Yu-chien and Mu-chi in Kanagawa area collections. But ultimately Sesson espoused artistic individuality. "One should study the paintings of the old masters, but never as more than a point of reference," Sesson wrote in his short treatise, "Setsumonteishi" (Instructions to Disciples). Believing that "one's own paintings must be done with one's own skills and techniques," Sesson adapted the splashed ink and washes of his predecessors, applying them in novel ways. For example, he employed darker ink tones to create more extreme contrasts. And he exaggerated perspective, allowing rooftops to be seen from above and below simultaneously and people to bend their arms and necks at impossible angles.

Landscape, 38 x 32cm each (pair of hanging scrolls), ink on paper.

The Chinese immortals paintings exemplify some of Sesson's special qualities. The Taoist Immortal Lu Dongbin subdues a dragon by standing on its head as wind billows his robes upward in thick black arcs. Two versions of Liezi Riding the Wind picture the sage in a typical alien abduction scenario, rising miraculously through the air. In Xiama and Tieguai, a pair of hanging scrolls, one hermit blows a strong breath, propelling a miniature version of himself, his soul apparently, through the air. In the accompanying scroll, the other hermit, a hunchback, dances with a three-legged iguana.

Don't worry, there are also plenty of windswept pines, distant peaks and other sumiboku-ga (ink painting) standards. The four seasons unfold monochromatically across several large screens. Other landscapes serve as habitat for animals, like the fuzzy Gibbons in a Landscape (from The Metropolitan Museum of Art) and the roosting White Herons in Plum and Willow (from The Minneapolis Institute of Arts).

As most of Sesson's work is undated, precisely tracing his artistic development is difficult (this show forgoes chronological order altogether, dividing the paintings into "Figures," "Views," or "Living Things"). There are, however, obvious shifts in his style, from the static, controlled hard edges of Palace Ladies, for example, to the dynamic, free-flowing hills and waterways of Eight Views of Xiao and Xiang.

Unfortunately not all of the more than 100 works from overseas and domestic collections are on view at any given time. The screens and scrolls are delicate; prolonged exposure to light degrades them. The good news is that entrance to the Shibuya-ku-owned Shoto Museum is only ¥300 so you can return several times to see the work as it rotates over the course of the exhibition.

Shoto Museum of Art
Until May 12. Shinsen stn (Keio Inokashira line), north exit. Shoto 2-14-14. Tue-Sun 9am-5pm. Tel: 03-3465-9421. Adm: Adults ¥300, students ¥100.

Photo credit: courtesy Shoto Museum of Art

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