Yamamoto Baiitsu (1783-1856) was a famous Japanese artist of the latter years of the Edo era. Baiitsu is best known for being a painter from the Nanga school, which is also known as literati painting. Yamamoto Baiitsu was born in Nagoya city, part of the province of Owari. He gained particular fame as a specialist in birds and flowers painting, landscapes and themes taken from Chinese painting. Along with his fellow and good friend Nakabayashi Chikutō (1776-1853), Baiitsu became one of the most famous figures of Owari Nanga school.
Baiitsu was born in 1783 in Nagoya, which at that time belonged to the domain of Owari headed by the Tokugawa clan. Originally, his given name was Yamamoto Shōryō, while his courtesy name was Meikyō. He had multiple pseudonyms, among which the most famous is Baiitsu. The Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art and Tahara City Museum mention Nagoya as his place of birth and 1856 as his year of death. He was from a family related to the craft tradition. Namely, his father is usually mentioned as Yamamoto Yumigiemon, who was a sculptor working for the Owari Tokugawa family. Hence, this background made him operate within a context in which artistry and skillfulness were valued. As is suggested by the biographical tradition maintained by later authors, he was engaged with painting since his early years and later trained as a painter.
Early Training in Nagoya
Baiitsu’s first exposure to art training occurred in Nagoya, where he came into contact with various styles of painting. Baiitsu’s first teacher is believed to have been Yamamoto Rantei, a painter who was part of the Kanō tradition. Seeing Baiitsu’s potential, Rantei referred him to Chō Gesshō (1770/1772-1832), an eminent painter in the Shijō tradition. This early exposure was important for Baiitsu since he grew up in an environment that was not strictly bound by any one particular tradition. The Kanō tradition gave him a strong professional orientation, whereas the Shijō tradition of Gesshō helped him get an observational style regarding nature. It can be seen in the later works of Baiitsu, especially his works on plants, flowers, birds and animals. According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Baiitsu’s bird-and-flower paintings show remarkable qualities of observation, colour and brushwork.
Move to Kyoto and Development as a Literati Painter
In the end, Baiitsu came to be increasingly known with Kyoto, which is considered to have been the centre of Japanese culture and arts in the early nineteenth century. According to the Tahara City Museum, he shifted to Kyoto in 1832, when he was about fifty years old. For the major part of the next period, Baiitsu continued to be strongly linked with Kyoto even while retaining ties with Nagoya. In Kyoto, Baiitsu entered into the important circles of literati. He came to know people like Rai San’yo, Uragami Shunkin and other people linked with Nanga culture. These connections helped in creating an identity for him beyond that of an artist.
Baiitsu and Literati Culture
Moreover, Baiitsu’s identity as a literati artist did not end there; his interest went beyond the realm of painting as he was also passionate about literature, poetry, calligraphy, tea ceremonies and collecting art. In fact, according to the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo, Baiitsu’s presence is noted in the Heian Jinbutsu-shi, an almanac listing famous people in Kyoto during his time. It not only identifies him as a painter but also mentions him in connection with music especially the flute. However, his involvement with the sencha community was particularly evident towards the end of his life. In a research done at SOAS University of London, it is mentioned that the publication of Meien Hinmoku, a collection of sencha parties published in 1852, mentions a party in Kyoto to commemorate Baiitsu’s seventieth birthday party.
Important Works and Mature Career
Baiitsu had created many paintings throughout his mature period, which show wide-ranging scope of his artistic interests. One of them is Insects and Grasses, created in 1847, presently kept in Metropolitan Museum of Art. This painting is composed of more than fifty insects depicted in one handscroll. It shows the artist’s skills of observation and his awareness of the classical Chinese painting manuals like Mustard Seed Garden Manual.
Another example of his paintings, Landscapes of the Four Seasons, created in 1848, gives evidence of yet another approach that was used by the artist in his paintings. Although this painting is created according to traditional Chinese literati landscape paintings, the four pieces show personal and atmospheric perception of the nature. According to the Metropolitan Museum, this piece provides an opportunity to see a relatively lesser known side of Baiitsu’s artistic activity apart from his widely known bird-and-flower paintings.
Other paintings created by him prove that Baiitsu was still an active artist in the later period of his life. For example, Egrets in a Lotus Pond was created in 1852 and Plum Blossoms in 1851.