Gathering of Poetic Immortals with Poem Drafts

与謝蕪村句稿貼俳仙群会図

late 1700s

and Yosa Buson 与謝蕪村

(Japanese, 1716–1783)

Culture

Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)

Medium

hanging scroll; ink and color on paper

Measurements

Image: 106.4 x 26.8 cm (41 7/8 x 10 9/16 in.); Mounted with knobs: 184.2 x 34 cm (72 1/2 x 13 3/8 in.)

Credit Line

Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund 1983.188

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Location

235A Japanese

Description

When Yosa Buson died, his students raised funds for his daughter Kuno’s second marriage by selling their own paintings and calligraphies attached to surviving drafts of Buson’s poetry and commentary. Here, beneath a section of Buson’s manuscripts, Matsumura Goshun painted nine of the poets Buson judged to be the best at haikai, a humorous form of poetry in which poets take turns contributing verses to a poem. In his inscription, Goshun explained that his choice of subject relates to the content of Buson’s text.