  About the Artwork
  
  
  This scroll is a collaboration by three of the most important artists of their time, two of whom were master and student. The painting was created in three stages. Hoitsu, the master, first painted bamboo in the upper left; Kiitsu, his pupil, then added a blossoming plum branch at the bottom, leaving space for Bōsai to add a poem about these plants in energetic calligraphy. Because bamboo is evergreen and the plum tree blooms in winter at the time of the Lunar New Year, these motifs symbolize longevity and renewal in east Asian art. They also symbolize a Confucian principle of uprightness and perseverance. It is likely the painting was composed when the three friends were together celebrating the New Year. It is unusual for these three artists to work in ink; they are usually associated with boldly colored decorative screens.
From Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts 89 (2015)
  
  
  Title
  Bamboo and Plum Tree
  
  
  Artwork Date
  19th century
  
  
  
  
  Makers
  
  
  Kameda Bosai  (Artist)
  Japanese, 1752-1826
  Sakai Hoitsu  (Artist)
  Japanese, 1761-1828
  Suzuki Kiitsu  (Artist)
  Japanese, 1796-1858
  
  
  
  Medium
  Ink on paper
  
  
  Dimensions
  Overall: 71 1/4 × 13 inches (181 × 33 cm)
  Image: 39 inches × 10 3/4 inches (99.1 × 27.3 cm)
  Installed: 72 inches × 13 1/8 inches × 7/8 inches (182.9 × 33.3 × 2.2 cm)
  
  
  Classification
  Paintings
  
  
  Department
  Asian Art
  
  
  Credit
  Museum Purchase, Robert H. Tannahill Foundation Fund
  
  
  
  Accession Number
  
  
  
  This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection.
  Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings.
  For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups.
  
  
  
  2013.43
  
  
  Copyright
  Public Domain
