Jakuchu: The 300th Anniversary of His Birth

Active in Kyoto during one of the city's most prosperous periods, mid-Edo era master Ito Jakuchu (1716-1800) is known for expressing traditional themes such as animals and flowers with an experimental style that mesmerised his contemporaries. His pieces have appeared at several exhibitions in Tokyo over the past few years, but this retrospective at the Metropolitan Art Museum dwarfs all previous displays in terms of both scale and quality. It centres on two of Jakuchu's most storied works: the 'Sakayamuni Triad' scrolls, originally dedicated to Kyoto's Shokoku-ji temple, and the 30-piece 'Pictures of the Colourful Realm of Living Beings' series, originally housed at the same temple but now stored at the Museum of Imperial Collections in Tokyo. The chance to see these masterpieces displayed together, combined with the rather short exhibition period, should ensure lengthy queues at the museum.