くまもとの絶景（永青文庫） Picturesque Landscapes of Kumamoto (Eisei Bunko Museum)

昨年、熊本を訪れる機会があった。

残念ながら、熊本市内の熊本城など、主要な観光施設を訪れる程度の駆け足の滞在だった。

かつての熊本藩藩主細川家のお宝を誇る永青文庫で、『領内名勝図巻』が大々的に展示されるとあって、江戸川橋駅からの急な目白坂を登り、緑に包まれた永青文庫を訪れた。

8代藩主・細川斉茲が描かせた『領内名勝図巻』は、以前行われた展覧会で、その一部を目にしてことがあったが、今回は、じっくりと鑑賞することができた。

この図巻を描いたのは矢野良勝と衛藤良行という、雪舟の流れを組む雪谷派に属す熊本藩の絵師だった。確かに、雪舟の『秋冬山水図』や『山水図巻』の表現が、受け継がれていることがよくわかる。

しかし、杖立川路越之図にある切り立った奇岩の表現まできて、目が釘付けになった。

まるで、ゲルハルト・リヒターの絵を引っ掻く表現のような岩の表現は、矢野良勝という絵師が只者ではなかったことが伺える。

注文主の細川斉茲は、この絵を水戸藩や紀州藩の藩主に見せたいがために、2人の絵師に2年で仕上げるように命じ、2人は”残業”や”持ち出し”を重ねて完成させたが、完成後の報酬や待遇は期待外れで、特に衛藤良行は辞表を提出したという。

細川斉茲という殿様は、司馬江漢や谷文晁らとも交流があり、自ら絵筆を振うほど絵心にも長けていた。

司馬江漢が制作したという巨大な地球儀や、谷文晁の富士山の絵などと共に、細川斉茲の描いた花鳥図や風景画のスケッチなどが展示されていたが、その技術はアマチュアの域を遥かに超えていた。

Last year, I had the opportunity to visit Kumamoto.

Unfortunately, my stay was short, and I only had time to visit the main tourist attractions, such as Kumamoto Castle in Kumamoto City.

The Eisei Bunko, which boasts the treasures of the Hosokawa clan, the former feudal lords of the Kumamoto domain, was exhibiting a large-scale version of the Famous Places of the Domain Scroll, so I climbed the steep Mejirozaka slope from Edogawabashi Station and visited the Eisei Bunko, surrounded by greenery.

I had seen a part of the Famous Places of the Domain Scroll, which was commissioned by the eighth feudal lord, Hosokawa Naritsune, at a previous exhibition, but this time I was able to take my time to appreciate it.

The scroll was painted by Yano Yoshikatsu and Eto Yoshiyuki, artists of the Kumamoto domain who belonged to the Yukigaya school, which followed Sesshu. It is clear that the expressions of Sesshu's Autumn and Winter Landscapes and Landscapes Scrolls have been passed down.

However, my eyes were glued to the depiction of the steep, strangely shaped rocks in "Jutategawajikoshi" (The Crossing of the Tsue Tategawa River).

The depiction of the rocks, which is almost as if they are scratching a Gerhard Richter painting, shows that the artist Yano Yoshikatsu was no ordinary artist.

The client, Hosokawa Naritsu, wanted to show this painting to the feudal lords of Mito and Kishu, so he ordered the two artists to complete it in two years. The two artists completed it after much "overtime" and "withdrawal," but the compensation and treatment after completion were disappointing, and Eto Yoshiyuki in particular submitted his resignation.

Hosokawa Naritsu, a lord who had connections with Shiba Kokan and Tani Buncho, was also skilled in art, and was even able to wield a paintbrush himself.

Along with a huge globe said to have been made by Shiba Kokan and a painting of Mount Fuji by Tani Buncho, there were also sketches of flower and bird paintings and landscapes by Hosokawa Naritsu, and the quality of their work was far beyond that of an amateur.