●Nathan Shiga: September 19

A leading scholar on Japanese arts, notably on Sesshu, a legendary painter in Chinese ink, Professor Arata Shimao of Gakushuin Univerisity confesses his excitement at a glance at Sesshu’s breathtaking work in colors “Landscape in style of Gui XIA” identified this time by Yamaguchi Prefectural Museum as Sesshu’s authentic work.

“I must say I was dumbfounded. You can call it a discovery of the century,” confided Prof. Shimao.

The work was listed in an auction 84 years ago in 1933 but was lost ever since and labeled an imaginary work. The museum testifies that it once belonged to a private collector and gone ” out of sight”.

Sesshu was born in a samurai family but turned Zen priest in his youth. His talent soon betrayed to make him one of the greatest Japanese artists in the middle Muromachi period.

This “Landscape in style of Gui XIA” is a grand display of Sesshu’s outstanding artistry done in the style of Gui XIA but way beyond the art of the Chinese master in Southern Song.

Professor Yuji Yamashita of Meiji Gakuin University points out that “it is no longer an imitation of Chinese art,” adding:

“It’s no copy of Gi XIA. You see plenty of Sesshu everywhere in the picture. It looks as if Sesshu speaks up aloud he has fully digested Chinese artistry and created a style of his own.”

Sesshu is popular among most Japanese elders for an anecdote in his childhood of a mouse drawn by his big toe, tied up on the pillar for punishment, with teardrops on the floor in the temple he was apprenticed.

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