Title: Nomura Bunkyo Shozō Gakō Shasei Gajō (Nomura Bunkyo's Sketchbook), Circa 1868-1875. Early Meiji Sketchbook by a Japanese Painter of the Shijo School, with 100 Full-Page Landscape Sketches and Sumi-E Ink Wash Paintings, With Some Double Paged Spreads, and Some in Color
Author: Nomura Bunkyo (1854-1911)
Condition: Fair
An Early Meiji Period, mid to late 19th century manuscript sketchbook entitled Nomura Bunkyo Shozō Gakō Shasei Gajō, or Nomura Bunkyo's Sketchbook, an original collection of pen and ink sketches and paintings by the Japanese painter of the Shijo School when he was still relatively younger.
There is a staggering quantity of 100 full page sketches, as well as a few sumi-e ink wash paintings, some being double page spreads, and some in color. Included depictions are that of the Tsuten-kyo Bridge, Kiyomizu-dera Temple, some wildlife and quite a few landscapes and flowers, and more. Based on some of the chosen subject matter, this is likely a series of sketches he made while in his home city of Kyoto.
Nomura Bunkyo (1854-1911) was born in the Shimogyo Ward of Kyoto Prefecture. His father, one Nomura Ubei, ran a kimono shop in Shijo Omiya. At the age of 14 in April 1867, he began studying ukiyo -e under Umekawa Tokyo, but in September 1869, he began studying painting in earnest under Shiokawa Bunrin of the Maruyama-Shijo School. While traveling through 19 provinces in the Kinai (a name for the ancient provinces around the capital Nara and Heian-kyō) region, he made detailed sketches and added Western-style realism to the landscape painting techniques he learned from Bunrin. Later moving to Tokyo in 1889, he became a prize-winner at the first Bunten, or Ministry of Education Arts Exhibition, a prestigious and influential annual national arts competition. One of his more notable pupils includes Yamamoto Shunkyo, who painted for Emperor Showa, and later became a professor at the Kyoto College of Fine Arts and one of the founders of the modern Kyoto school.
This manuscript is likely one of the collections of sketches he made while travelling through the 19 provinces in his youth, putting his mixture of skills to the test in producing impressive work while on the go.
One manuscript in quarto (27.9 x 20.3), 105 leaves
This manuscript is in fair shape, with wear and staining to the binding. Most, if not all of the washi sheets have split, hence the unusual quantity counted, but Bunkyo also seems to have used that to add additional sketches. The binding is quite literally broken in the middle, with the sheets holding. Several leaves have been crudely torn out at the beginning, and some leaves have been crumpled or folded several times.