Attributed to Kano Tsunenobu (1636-1713), Bukkan and His Tiger and Kanzhan and Jittoku

Includes two hanging scrolls, ink and ink wash on paper, the two paintings feature two popular Zen Buddhist images, the first of the Buddhist monks Kanzhan and Jittoku, and the second of Bukan and his tiger, both with a red artist seal to lower corner, ivory or bone rollers, comes together with a tomobako wooden storage box that houses both scrolls, the tomobako has inscriptions to interior of box.

Each: DOA 71 1/2 x 22 1/2 in., Image size 36 1/2 x 17 1/4 in.

Private Collection, Florida

Exhibited at Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, "Buddhist Visions: Visual Culture and the Middle Way," January 18-April 13, 2008.

A leading painter of the Edo period, Kano Tsunenobu was a central figure in the Kano school, trained by his uncle and adoptive father, Kano Tan’yu, Tsunenobu upheld the stylistic traditions of the school while contributing his own refined brushwork and compositional clarity. His works, often created for shogunal commissions, temples, and aristocratic patrons, range from dynamic ink landscapes to elaborately colored folding screens. The pair of paintings offered here were created by Tsunenobu with fluid brushwork reflecting both Chinese Chan (Zen) painting traditions and the spiritual austerity of Japanese Zen practice. Paintings like this pair were often displayed in a temple setting to inspire contemplation and convey teachings through visual form.

Overall good condition; some light even toning to paper; some horizontal and vertical creases; scattered spots of loss as well as repair and restoration.