Plum Drawn from the Mind c. 19th century
baichidojin
minneapolisinstituteofart
ink-on-paper, hanging-scroll
toned paper
water colours
ink painting
incomplete sketchy
japan
possibly oil pastel
ink-on-paper
hanging-scroll
underpainting
watercolour bleed
watercolour illustration
mixed medium
watercolor
"Plum Drawn from the Mind" (c. 19th century) is a hanging scroll by the Japanese artist Baichi Dōjin, a prominent figure of the Bunka-Bunsei era (1804–1830). The work, executed in ink and wash on paper, showcases Dōjin's mastery of the literati style, known for its emphasis on spontaneity and evocative brushwork. The delicate branches and blossoms of the plum tree are rendered with subtle washes of ink, creating a sense of ethereal beauty and tranquility. This painting embodies the values of the literati movement, where artistic expression was interwoven with philosophical and scholarly pursuits. It is currently housed in the Minneapolis Institute of Art.
Comments
The practice of painting blossoming plum branches in monochrome ink seems to have emerged in tenth-century China and became popular among the Japanese literati of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Delicate flowers budding from a wizened plum tree during the winter carry associations of longevity, renewal, and purity. The inscription, shai, meaning ‘drawn from the mind,’ is the opposite of shasei, or ‘sketched from life;’ indeed, this is a particularly free-spirited and imaginative interpretation of this subject. A variety of tones of ink applied in impressionistic splotches with a wet brush convey the vital splendor of a plum tree breaking into a profusion of blossoms at the cusp of spring. Baichi was a priest of the Pure Land or Jōdo school of Buddhism, known for his poetry, calligraphy, and paintings of landscapes and flora.
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