PRESS RELEASE
March 5, 2024
Fukuda Art MuseumAcquisition by Fukuda Art Museum of Kaso Zukan [Fruits and Vegetables],a newly discovered picture scroll by Itō Jakuchū, announced at press conference
Painted by Jackuchū in his seventies
ー Rare Picture Scroll to Star in October Special Exhibition ーWith great delight, Fukuda Art Museum announces it has
acquired, from Europe, a newly discovered picture scroll by Itō
Jakuchū, Kaso Zukan. Now part of Fukuda Art Museum's
collection of new acquisitions, in October, it will feature in acelebratory exhibition Fifth Anniversary: MiraculousAppearance in Kyoto Arashiyama! Soon, you actually will beable to see this extremely rare scroll by Itō Jakuchū on publicdisplay. Initially, Kaso Zukan was unveiled in a limited showing
to the press on Tuesday, March 5. Fukuda Art Museum Chief
Curator Okada Hideyuki remarked on the discovery and thehistoric significance of this event: "Because so very few coloredworks painted by Jakuchū in his seventies have come to light,
this rare example tells much about how his painting continuedto evolve. Tsuji Tadao, a leading expert on Japanese art history,commented, "The well-considered color contrasts areparticularly interesting. The coloring evokes a feeling offreshness.”Itō Jakuchū’s Kaso Zukan unrolled

Kaso Zukan Facts⚫ Recently discovered, a colored illustrated scroll on silk.
⚫ (H 30.5 × L 277.5 cm or 1’ × 9’ 3”)* painted by Jakuchū.
⚫ Created in 1791, when Jakuchū was, by Japanese reckoning , 76 years old.
⚫ Appended to the scroll, there is a handwritten inscription by Daiten Kenjō, a scholar monk and court official.
* With 54.5 cm inscription, total L 332.2 cm

Unrolling to more than three meters (nearly 11 ft.), Kaso Zukan is a large work painted in 1791 byJakuchū when he was in his mid-seventies. It shows assorted fruits and vegetables depicted with hisdiscriminating eye and beautiful coloring. During the year after completing this work, Jakuchū painted
Saichū-fu [Plants and Bugs], an important cultural property held by Yoshizawa Memorial Museum of Art,
Sano. While the works differ significantly, both in how the vegetables are depicted and in coloring, thereare commonalities, pointed out below by Yoshizawa Memorial Museum curator Suetake Satomi:⚫ The types of fruit and vegetable are mostly the same in both scrolls.
⚫ Differences and similarities in how fruits and vegetables are arranged,
how they are posed, and how they are colored are significant.
⚫ The absence of bugs in Kaso Zukan helps us to better appreciate
the composition of Saichū-fu and how the bugs are depicted.
⚫ Daiten Kenjō’s inscription reveals much about Jakuchū’s relationshipduring his later years with the author and with patrons in Osaka.
(We know that Saichū-fu was commissioned by a literati sponsor in Osaka.)

Brief comparison of Kaso Zukan and Saichū-fu
Kaso Zukan[Fruits and Vegetables]
Year created
1791
Jakuchū’s age
76 (signed)
Dimensions (cm) 30.5 × 332.2
SubjectFruits and vegetables
Base color
Natural silk
Colophon
Baisō Kenjō (Daiten)
Title lettering
None
PatronMori GenkyōYear discovered 2023
Discovered inEurope

Painting title

Saichū-fu[Plants and Bugs]
1792
77
31.8 × 1095
Fruits, vegetables, bugs, frogs, etc.
Natural silk
Hosoai Hansai
Fukuoka Buzan
Unknown
1999
Old residence, Tochigi Prefecture

Kaso Zukan Content

Basic Information
Title & artist: Kaso Zukan by Itō JakuchūYear created: 1791
Dimensions: H 30.5 × L 277.5 cm (1’ × 9’ 3”)

Botanical depictions by Jakuchū with an appended colophon by Baisō Kenjō (Daiten)
Winter gourd

Pumpkin

Here, it says that more than 30 years previously,
together with Jakuchū, the author visited Mori Genkyō
in Naniwa (Osaka).

Imprints of
Jakuchū'sartist seals

Jakuchū signature: Beito-ō [Oldman Beito] painted aged 76

The inscription appended to the scroll is handwritten by Baisō Kenjō (Daiten) (1719–1801), a scholarmonk at Kyoto Shōkoku-ji Temple, court official, and close friend of Jakuchū. The colophon highly
praises the work and refers to the exemplary shapes and colors of the fruits and vegetables. It also
states that the work was commissioned by Mori Gengō or Genkyō of Osaka, and that the author andJakuchū had visited Mori 30 years previously. It adds that after Gengō's death, his son Yoshitsugu asked
Daiten to write a colophon. Expressing the fond memories of an old friend, this precious document
praises the magnificence of the painting.
With his distinctive flair for color and composition, Jakuchū painted the fruits and vegetables with great
originality. The persimmon, bitter gourd, and apple are painted with beautiful gradations using neutralcolors.

Beautiful neutral coloring

Calabash
Lotus seed head

Nashi PeachApples

Pear Eggplant

Udo shoots
Berries (?)
Citrus fruits

Chili pepper
Uri gourd

Lotus root

Kuro-kuwai

Kuwai

Chrysanthemum
flowers (?)

Beechnuts (?)

Poppy headGrapes

KaramiradishLuffa gourd

Gourd

LoquatHorsetail
Sumomo plumPomegranateFern bracken

Red bayberries
Persimmon

Bitter gourd

Watercaltrop (?)

Buddha’s hand

Maize

Mulberries

Lily bulb

Driedpersimmon

Chineselantern

GingershootCactus

Chestnut

KaramiradishAssessment by Fukuda Art Museum Chief Curator Okada Hideyuki
Jakuchū distinctively colored each of the different botanical items with keen observation anddescriptive ability. Very few colored works created by Jakuchū in his 70s remain and, with this one, weeven know who commissioned it. This extremely rare painting significantly aids our understanding ofJakuchū’s complete artistic trajectory.

Jakuchū the PainterActive during the middle of the Edo period, Jakuchū was born in 1716 and died in 1800. As eldest son to aproduce wholesaler in Kyoto Nishiki Market, Jakuchū inherited the family business when he was twentythree. After he turned the business over to his younger brother, at age forty he returned to painting. His
works are vivid and meticulously detailed. With its distinctive coloring and bold composition, his vision has
been called fantastical. After a year-2000 exhibition to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Jakuchū’s
death, his work was re-evaluated and a boom in public interest ensued. In 2006, an exhibition of 109 works
from more than 600 works in the American Etsuko and Joe Price Collection, the largest private holding of
the artist’s work, was held in Japan. Saichū-fu (previously mentioned) and all fifty of Jakuchū's wall
paintings at Rokuon-ji Daisho-in have been designated important cultural properties. His set of thirty
hanging scrolls, Colorful Realm of Living Beings, is a national treasure.

Please address inquiries to one of the persons below.
Note: we also consider requests for interviews with curators.
Email：fukudamuseum-pr@kyodo-pr.co.jp
Fukuda Art Museum Public Relations Desk (Kyodo PR)
Mai Tanaka, 080-8866-6183; Higuchi, 080-9510-3751
email: fukudamuseum-pr@kyodo-pr.co.jp