Cool Shadow of the Bright Moon
An Exhibition of Works by Otagaki Rengetsu (1791-1875)
I am excited to invite my Sydney clients to my first thematic exhibition, 'Cool Shadow of the Bright Moon - An Exhibition of Works by Otagaki Rengetsu (1791-1875)'.
The exhibition will be held at the AAADA (Australian Antique & Art Dealers Association) Fair in Sydney at Paddington Town Hall from 7-10 November.
Otagaki Rengetsu (1791-1875) is one of the great female artists of Japanese history. Born as the secret child of a nobleman and a courtesan, she was given up for adoption into another family, married young and suffered a sad life through the loss of family members including all of her children, eventually becoming a Buddhist nun of the Pure Land Sect at the age of 33. Through her courtly training as a lady-in-waiting at Kameoka Castle, she became adept at the noble arts of calligraphy, painting and poetry, and became renowned as a master composer of waka poetry (17-syllable poems) and for her delicate grass-script calligraphy. She also began potting in clay and inscribed her original poetry onto her pots. Somehow her sad life, in conjunction with her humility as a Buddhist nun, distilled itself into her superb calligraphy and her innocent but sensitive waka poems. In this way she has become one of the giants of Japanese calligraphy and poetry whose timeless work still speaks clearly to us today.