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Group Pilgrimage to the Jizo Nun

Long scroll drawing, upper half is script; lower half depicts people in courtyard.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • Long scroll drawing, upper half is script; lower half depicts people in courtyard.

Date:

1755/65

Artist:

Ike Taiga
Japanese, 1723-1776

About this artwork

Ike Taiga was a revolutionary known for revitalizing Japanese painting traditions in the eighteenth century. He infused the Chinese-inspired ink painting (nanga) that was gaining favor among intellectuals in Kyoto with a purely Japanese aesthetic and humor. Group Pilgrimage to the Jizo Nun is a snapshot of contemporary life in Japan presented from Taiga’s unique perspective. The print depicts pilgrims making offerings to the Jizo nun, a holy woman believed to be able to communicate with the bodhisattva Jizo, who had the power to save souls in the afterlife.

Group Pilgrimage contains an inscription relating the story of the Jizo nun. Taiga was a master calligrapher, poet, and seal carver and was well versed in all forms of writing, from ancient seal script to cursive kana. Here he rendered the inscription in a cursive, informal style very much in keeping with the spontaneity of the painting itself. Taiga was also renowned for his use of finger painting and other odd techniques. Although opinions vary as to whether or not this work is a finger painting, it is clear that Taiga did not use a traditional brush. It seems likely that this could be a “paper twist painting,” in which the artist worked with scraps of twisted paper charged with ink.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Arts of Asia

Artist

Ike Taiga

Title

Group Pilgrimage to the Jizo Nun

Place

Japan (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Made 1750–1770

Medium

Hanging scroll; ink on paper

Dimensions

54.9 × 123.2 cm (21 5/8 × 48 1/2 in.)

Credit Line

Kate S. Buckingham Endowment; Margaret Gentles Fund; Purchased with funds provided by Roger L. Weston, George and Roberta Mann, Harlow and Susan Higinbotham, Charles C. Haffner III, James M. and Carol D. Trapp

Reference Number

2005.168

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/185222/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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