双鶴図(鶴亀図双幅のうち)伊藤若冲筆そうかくず(つるかめずそうふく)いとうじゃくちゅう

  • 江戸時代
  • 18c
  • 紙本墨画
  • H-114.9 W-52.2
解説(開館1周年記念展)

伊藤若冲は京都錦小路の青物問屋に生まれる。初め狩野派に学び,宋元明の中国画を研究するが,模倣だけでは真の自己を啓発するに至らないと悟り,丹念な自然観察から独自の画風を展開,精細で装飾性の強い花鳥画を描く一方で飄逸な水墨画を数多く生んだ。特に鶏は自邸の庭に数十羽を放し飼いにし,その形状観察や写生に数年間を費やし,多くの作品を遺している。

本図は画面いっぱいにおのおの双鶴と蓬莱亀を対角線構図で極端にデフォルメして描きつつ,その生態を巧みに表現している。殊に首を竦める鶴の卵形の体躯,亀の甲羅と藻の表現に写実を極めた若冲ならではの秀逸さを感じる。若冲の水墨による動植物には一種の禅機図的な気配が漂う作品が多いが,これは彼がのちの相国寺住持大典禅師との交流で禅道に傾倒し,隠遁的性格を内在していたことに深く起因しよう。この鶴亀のように,見る者の心底を見透かすような鋭い眼差しにもそれは濃厚に表れている。白文方印「藤汝鈞印」および朱文円印「若冲居士」。

霊亀図(鶴亀図双幅のうち)伊藤若冲筆

Catalogue Entry

Ito Jakuchu was born to a wholesale greengrocer in Nishikikoji in Kyoto. Jakuchu studied the style of the Kano school, and also studied paintings of Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties in China. Realizing that he could not express himself fully by means of imitation alone, he eventually developed his own style of painting, by means of, in part, careful observation of nature. Jakuchu painted minutely detailed, decorative paintings of birds and flowers, as well as many unconventional ink paintings. As an aid to painting, he kept dozens of chickens loose in his yard, a practice that enabled him to observe and sketch them for years and produce a large number of works.

In the present ink paintings, two cranes and a tortoise believed to live in the sea off a mythical isle are placed diagonally, filling the space. Though extremely deformed, the paintings skillfully represent the animals' temperaments. In particular, the skills of Jakuchu as an accomplished realist are particularly evident in his handling of the egg-shaped bodies of cranes, one ducking its head, and in the carapace of the tortoise and the aquatic plants. Many of Jakuchu's ink paintings of animals and plants suggests a Zen-like ambiance, probably because he devoted himself to Zen Buddhism as a result of his friendship with Daiten, who would later become the chief priest of Shokokuji Temple in Kyoto, and because Jakuchu held within himself a reclusive personality. These personalities of Jakuchu are unmistakable in the look that these animals cast to the viewer as if to penetrate to the core of the viewer's soul.

霊亀図(鶴亀図双幅のうち)伊藤若冲筆

解説(春の玉手箱)

 伊藤若冲は京都錦小路の青物問屋に生まれる。初め狩野派に学び、宋元明の中国画を研究するが、模倣だけでは真の自己を啓発するに至らないと悟り、丹念な自然観察から独自の画風を展開、精細で装飾性の強い花鳥画を描く一方で飄逸な水墨画を数多く生んだ。本図は画面いっぱいにおのおの双鶴と蓬莱亀を対角線構図で極端にデフォルメして描きつつ、その生態を巧みに表現している。若冲の水墨による動植物には一種の禅機図的な気配が漂う作品が多いが、これは彼がのちの相国寺住持・大典禅師との交流で禅道に傾倒し、隠遁的性格を内在していたことに深く起因しよう。この鶴亀のように、見る者の心底を見透かすような鋭い眼差しにもそれは濃厚に表れている。白文方印「藤汝鈞印」および朱文円印「若冲居士」。

霊亀図(鶴亀図双幅のうち)伊藤若冲筆

Catalogue Entry

Ito Jakuchu was born the son of a wholesale greengrocer in Nishikikoji in Kyoto. He first studied the Kano style of painting and investigated Chinese paintings from the Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties. He realized, however, that he could not express himself fully by means of imitation alone, and he moved beyond simple observation of nature to develop his own distinctive painting style. His huge oeuvre ranges from detailed, strongly decorative bird and flower paintings in full color to unconventional, buoyant ink paintings. Here Jakuchu has filled his compositions with diagonally opposing images of crane and tortoise. In spite of their highly deformed presentation, Jakuchu skillfully captures the essence of the animals depicted. Many of Jakuchu's ink paintings of animals and plants have a Zen‐like ambiance, and this tendency was firmly rooted in his devotion to Zen engendered by his interactions with Taiten, abbot of Shokokuji Temple in Kyoto and his naturally reclusive personality. Jakuchu's character is profoundly expressed in the piercing gaze of the tortoise and cranes, each seeming to look straight into the viewer's soul. The painting is impressed with an intaglio seal ,“藤女鈞印" and a relief seal , “若冲居士"

霊亀図(鶴亀図双幅のうち)伊藤若冲筆

双鶴・霊亀図 若冲と蕪村 図録解説

双鶴・霊亀図 伊藤若冲筆 若冲と蕪村 図録解説
 右幅に霊亀、左幅に二羽の鶴を描く。画面いっぱいにふくらんだ鶴の体と、霊亀の尻尾が、白と黒のコントラストを成している。鶴は、卵のような楕円型の体から顔をのぞかせる。手前にいる方の体の向きがやや異なるものの、鶴の重なり方や脚の向きなど、「鶴図押絵貼屏風」(エツコ&ジョウ・プライスコレクション)の右隻第六扇によく似ており、「花鳥図押絵貼屏風(」個人蔵)にも類似性が認められる。霊亀は脚をふんばり、甲羅には六角形の筋目が何重も刻まれる。真っ黒なふさふさとした尻尾は炎の如く上昇し、そこから亀の霊気が放出しているかのようだ。見開いた白目の中心に黒目が打たれたその強い視線は、左幅の下を向く鶴と同じで、鑑賞者をまっすぐに見つめているのだろうか。霊亀は中国神話に出てくる巨大な亀で、蓬莱山を背負うという伝説上の生き物。
 両幅とも署名はなく、「藤女鈞字景和」(白文方印)、「若冲居士」(朱文円印)を捺す。

霊亀図(鶴亀図双幅のうち)伊藤若冲筆