- Gyokujo-Futagawa’s artworks and her
artistic relationship-
This exhibition features the artworks of
Futagawa Gyokujo, a female artist of the Fukuoka Clan, and it introduces other
female cultural figures resided in Fukuoka from the Bunka to Tempo Period.
(18th Century).
Gyokujo was from castle town of Fukuoka and
her original name was Taki. She was a daughter of a famous calligrapher
Futagawa Sosuke of the Fukuoka Clan. Her father, Sosuke studied under Kamei
Nanmei, a Confucian of the Fukuoka Clan and through his father, she was active
in communicating with his fellow calligraphers of the period. Being influenced
by her father Sosuke, Gyokujo too, completed some literati style artworks. One
of her masterpieces is a drawing depicting a plum tree in the snow. The
audacious structure of the drawing was highly praised by her father Sosuke, who
offered a compliment on the drawing.
Shokin was good at depicting bamboo and
orchard which were a popular subject among literati.
Gyokujo’s farther Sukechika was also well
versed with music called “Imayou”, the popular songs of the period. He was also
an expert in the study of Japanese classical literature such as Manyo-shu and
poetry.
Fukuoka’s famous poet, Ookuma Kotomichi and
Nomura Moto and her husband Teikan all studied under Sukechika. Sukechika’s
broad relationship with those talented poets greatly influenced Gyokujo and her
sister Tsuru’s way of life.
