Talk:Itō Jakuchū

message: This is the poem from the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tsu, from which the name Jakuchū derives.
What is most perfect seems somehow lacking,
Yet its use is unimpaired.
The greatest fullness is like a void,
But its function never fails.
The most straight appears crooked,
While ultimate skill seems somehow clumsy,
And the greatest eloquence like stuttering.
Movement thus triumphs over cold, and inaction over heat.
All of heaven is thus set straight through quietude.
(Translation by Money Hickman)
Rosenfield, John M. (1999). Extraordinary Persons: Works by Eccentric, Nonconformist Japanese Artists of the Early Modern Era (1580-1868) in the Collection of Kimiko and John Powers. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard Art Museums.
I wasn't sure if this quite belonged in the article space, but I find it interesting and valuable, so I'm putting it here. LordAmeth 21:15, 12 August 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Excerpt

message: I can appreciate how one might think that "eccentric painters" is a peacock term or just an excessive adjective. However, as it pertains to this particular case, "eccentric painters" is an established category within Japanese art history. I just haven't gotten around to writing a Wiki article for it yet (and apparently neither has anyone else).
One of the key books on this subject is:
Extraordinary persons : works by eccentric, nonconformist Japanese artists of the early modern era (1580-1868) in the collection of Kimiko and John Powers = [Kinsei kijin no geijutsu]
by John M Rosenfield and Fumiko E Cranston.
That specific category of "kijin" (奇人), translated as "Eccentric artists" or "Eccentric painters", is an oft-used term to refer to particular artists, including Jakuchu, Rosetsu, Shohaku, and others.
To take just one example, in an essay entitled "Contextualizing Ito Jakuchu", Diana Rocklin explicitly writes that "he is classified in the category of 'eccentric painters.'" LordAmeth (talk) 17:11, 24 February 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: To quote from the Japanese article 奇人：”奇人（きじん）とは、性質や行動が普通の人とは違っている人のこと。かわりもの”　(my translation: "Kijin are people whose character and actions are different from ordinary people's. Oddballs.") Nowhere does it say that it is an artistic school or trend. Then there is a list of "kijin" which includes Einstein, Satie, William Blake, etc. all of whom are non-Japanese.
And there is no entry for "kijin" in "Japan, An Illustrated Encyclopedia" (over 12.000 articles, 1924 pages) either. But if you insist on keeping the term, I will not start an editing war. :) --Mycomp (talk) 07:11, 26 February 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Thank you for your understanding. I am not surprised that there is no mention of an art trend under a regular dictionary entry for "kijin"; in fact, it may be a term only used in Western scholarship of Japanese art, and not by Japanese scholars themselves. I do know that at the museum where I used to intern, our files on the art objects in the collection included a category for Eccentric painters, right next to Kano school, Tosa school, Rinpa, and Bunjinga. But that's not something I can cite or otherwise prove, really... LordAmeth (talk) 11:45, 26 February 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: I have now cited a source which refers to a capital letter "E" group of Eccentric artists in Japanese art history, including Jakuchu. Sadly, I have yet to happen upon one that provides enough information to create an Eccentric painters article yet (I don't have the Rosenfield book available to me any longer), but I'm keeping an eye out. LordAmeth (talk) 14:58, 14 May 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Eccentric painters 

message: There is a fairly grave error in the "Life" section, the temple popularly known as Ginkaku-ji (Silver Pavilion temple) is formally called Jissho-ji (慈照寺 maybe "radiant mercy temple"), Rokuon-ji (鹿苑寺 "deer garden temple") being Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion Temple), so please change.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.7.127.127 (talk) 15:23, 2 April 2010 (UTC)
thread_title: Life