Institut für Kunstgeschichte Ostasiens Conversations with Maruyama Ōkyo (1733–1795): Banshi, a Late-Eighteenth Century Diary

Among the various texts collectively known as garon, literally “treatises about painting,” Banshi is something of an outlier. Unlike most other garon, which were typically written as painting manuals intended for exclusive use within specific painting schools, Banshi does not seem to have any clear practical application beyond an encyclopedic interest that delves into immense detail. Composed between 1765 and 1773, the text meticulously records information ranging from painting techniques and the preparation of pigments and painting grounds such as paper and silk, to the construction of folding screens and fusuma sliding doors, as well as the proper storage of materials. Its author, Priest Yūjō, abbot of the temple Enman’in on the shores of Lake Biwa, relied exclusively on the painter Maruyama Ōkyo as his source of information—Ōkyo, a budding celebrity in the 1760s, was soon to become one of Kyoto’s most important painters. This presentation will introduce several excerpts from the text and explore its significance as a historical document, both within the broader context of Edo-period painting and in relation to the development of Ōkyo’s art specifically.