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Grapes

Sugai Baikan (Japanese, 1784–1844)

1800s

Medium: hanging scroll; ink and light color on paper
Classification: Painting
Dimensions: Painting only: 129 x 53.3 cm (50 13/16 x 21 in.); Including mounting: 190.5 x 64.8 cm (75 x 25 1/2 in.)
Culture: Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
Museum: Cleveland Museum of Art, Japanese Art
Credit line: The Kelvin Smith Collection, given by Mrs. Kelvin Smith
Rights: Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
Who can see it: Little Ones profiles and older: it shows gentle subjects for the very young. How works are placed

About this work

This loose composition is a casual work likely created for an acquaintance by Sugai Baikan, an artist known for his ink landscapes. Baikan was from Sendai in Tōhoku, and painted there before traveling to Edo (Tokyo) and then Kyoto, where he viewed a fan painting by Nagasaki-based Chinese businessman and artist Jiang Jiapu (dates unknown). Inspired, he moved to Nagasaki and studied with Jiang for many years, learning Chinese painting history and techniques. Then, after a stint in Osaka during which he enjoyed wide acclaim in painting and poetry circles, he returned to Sendai. Following a series of natural disasters in the region, his life fell into disarray, and he drowned himself in a well.