Description
This loose composition is a casual work likely created for an acquaintance by Sugai Baikan, an artist known for his ink landscapes. Baikan was from Sendai in Tōhoku, and painted there before traveling to Edo (Tokyo) and then Kyoto, where he viewed a fan painting by Nagasaki-based Chinese businessman and artist Jiang Jiapu (dates unknown). Inspired, he moved to Nagasaki and studied with Jiang for many years, learning Chinese painting history and techniques. Then, after a stint in Osaka during which he enjoyed wide acclaim in painting and poetry circles, he returned to Sendai. Following a series of natural disasters in the region, his life fell into disarray, and he drowned himself in a well.
Provenance
(Mathias Komor, New York, NY, sold to Mr. and Mrs. Kelvin Smith) (?–1976); The Kelvin Smith Collection, Cleveland, OH, given by Mrs. Kelvin [Eleanor Armstrong] Smith [1899–1998] to the Cleveland Museum of Art (1976–1985); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1985–)
Accession Number
1985.247
Medium
hanging scroll; ink and light color on paper
Dimensions
Painting only: 129 x 53.3 cm (50 13/16 x 21 in.); Including mounting: 190.5 x 64.8 cm (75 x 25 1/2 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
The Kelvin Smith Collection, given by Mrs. Kelvin Smith
![Saint Bernard and Saint Catherine of Alexandria with the Virgin of the Annunciation [right panel]](https://api.nga.gov/iiif/e6890364-4d99-4684-a62b-5060ee3c3446/full/400,/0/default.jpg)
