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Hanging Scroll by Hashimoto Gahō
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Article: Hanging Scroll by Hashimoto Gahō

This month's contribution features a short article about a hanging scroll by Hashimoto Gahō. The scroll belongs to the collection of SJA member Silvain Guignard, a musicologist, scholar of Japanese culture, and licensed master of the biwa (traditional Japanese lute). During his forty years living in Kyoto, he assembled a private collection of classical Japanese art, focusing primarily on 16th- to 19th-century scroll paintings, screen paintings, and Zen calligraphy. He now resides in Switzerland, where he manages his collection and presents exhibitions and performances celebrating traditional Japanese arts.

By Silvain Guignard

Hashimoto Gahō is regarded as one of the great innovators of Japanese painting at the end of the 19th century. This was a turbulent period in Japan. The island nation was being swept away by cultural, political and social upheaval. Finding a compass for the future suddenly became difficult in many aspects of life.