Keinen Shu’s Painting Book, Vol. 6 (1907) (Brush & Ink Workbook by Imao Keinen)

Or Picture Book, with artwork by Imao Keinen (1845-1924), a renowned Japanese art professor and painter from the Meiji to Taisho era, known for his expertise in “Flowers and Birds” (Kacho-ga) paintings. A beautifully scanned version of this very volume is in the Smithsonian Institute collection online. It is part of 7 volume set of manuals the artist created for students under the same title, or Keinen shūgajō. The first volume is reportedly full of very simple line drawings, according to www.hanga.co.jp which has a full set available for sale at $ 447.
 
Inside the accordion style book’s cover is printed Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology / May 1, 1888
 
On the opening page is an introduction which we were only able to partly translate. This book appears to be designed to teach school students Japanese brush painting techniques by sharing artwork by Keinen, with his stamp on every piece. An introduction on the first page is dated October 1907, if our translation is correct. However the back page says it was first printed in February 1885.
 
The next page includes a table of contents, which includes images to be copied of a puppy, bunnies, bamboo and fish, a kingfisher, crow, sparrow, gnarled tree, birds in flight, and more. And so follows 12 pages of masterful images for higher skilled students to try to recreate.
 
Our book has a torn peeling paper cover, and warped cardboard end pieces but the pages are clean except for some ‘bleeding’ from the artist’s red stamp on each image.
 
H 9 1/2” x L 6 7/8” x D 3/8”
 
Disclaimer: We have tried to make sure colors shown in photos are representative of the real colors of each item. We have tried to identify all imperfections in descriptions, but we may have missed some. If you are unhappy with your purchase, let us know.