The German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel wrote that what is "familiarly known" is not "properly known," just for the reason that it is familiar. The familiar historical image of the Edo Period Eccentric painters, one of whom was Ito Jakuchu (1716-1800), is no exception. They are remembered for their highly individual styles in unsurpassed technical abilities; their fanatic devotion to painting; and for taking to virtuosic practices, such as dipping their fingers in ink and scratching out paintings or imbibing copious amounts of alcohol while dabbling with the brush.
This characterization is in part true, but prone to hyperbole. There also is, as the Miho Museum's "Jakuchu Wonderland" exhibition of recently discovered historical documents shows, a more somber reflection of such artists and their sphere of activities.
In 1999, economic historian Hideki Usami published an article titled "Regarding the Official Authorization of the Kyoto Nishiki Takakura Vegetable Market," which appeared to contradict the popular image of a solitary Jakuchu, aloof from obligations to society and family and devoted only to fleeing reality through painting and Buddhism.
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