Goddess of Autumun

Kimura Buzan (1876-1942) was born in Ibaraki prefecture. His real name was Shintaro. Buzan moved to Tokyo after studying under a local Nanga painter, and studied in the private painting school Tenshinsha of Kawabata Gyokusho (1842-1913) and the Tokyo Fine Arts School. He was one of the starting members of the Japan Art Institute in 1898, and played a prominent part in the Bijutsuin with Yokoyama Taikan, Shimomura Kanzan, and Hishida Shunso. He is known for history painting, bird-andflower painting, and Buddhist painting using unique and splendid colors. Tatsuta Hime was a goddess of autumn. It was thought that Tatsuta Hime colored the beautiful autumn leaves on Mt. Tatsuta in the Nara Ikoma mountain range. The place was famous for the autumn leaves and was famed in poetry from ancient times. This work depicts the goddess as a noble woman in the Heian Period. She has dipped the brush in the vermilion paint in the palette held up by the lady in waiting, and is just coloring the autumn leaves. She is holding the branch softly with her left hand and thoughtfully and carefully brushing the leaves. Head decoration such as the tiara, ornamental hairpin, and ornamental comb, as well as the gorgeous costume add even more embellishment to the scene where red from the leaves and green from pine needles are creating vivid contrast. Buzan also shows brilliant attention to details such as her magnificent appearance reflecting in the pond where water striders, shrimps, and carps play. The 10th Japan Art Institute exhibition after the restoration in September 1923, in which this work was to be exhibited for the first time, was canceled due to the Great Kanto Earthquake. The work was first exhibited in the Osaka venue in the following month, and also when the Tokyo exhibition reopened within the same year, however the whereabouts of the work were not known for a long time since. This is a masterpiece of Buzan, who was renowned for his outstanding color perception.