Bean Vine 1734 - 1766

"Bean Vine" is a hanging scroll created by the renowned Japanese artist Ito Jakuchu between 1734 and 1766. This ink-on-paper artwork, now housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, captures the delicate beauty of a bean vine with meticulous detail. Jakuchu's masterful brushstrokes, a hallmark of his "realistic" style, render the plant's intricate structure with a sense of both fragility and vitality. This painting exemplifies the "bunjinga" style, which emphasized literati ideals of simplicity and naturalism. It's a testament to Jakuchu's ability to capture the essence of nature with a level of precision and poetic sensitivity that has captivated art lovers for centuries.