Connoisseur's Sketchbook by Kano Tan'yÅ« (Tan'yÅ« shukuzu) c. 1665 - 1669

Curator: This delicate scroll before us is the "Connoisseur's Sketchbook" by Kano Tan'yū, a 17th-century Japanese artist. I find the monochrome ink washes so ethereal. Editor: It looks like a series of ghostly memories rendered in graphite. It’s fascinating to see how the materiality contributes to the sense of transience. Curator: Indeed, each image feels loaded with symbolic weight. Observe the repeated motif of the tiger, a guardian figure in East Asian iconography. Editor: The brushwork is remarkably confident, even in these seemingly casual sketches. I wonder about the social context of sketchbook making in his workshops. Was it about skill development, or pure personal expression? Curator: Perhaps both. Tan'yū was deeply immersed in the cultural memory of Chinese artistic traditions, filtering those precedents through his unique lens. Editor: Ultimately, the process and product merge here. These sketches highlight the artist's hand, and in turn, make me think about the socio-economic factors that allowed for the production of art itself. Curator: A powerful convergence of meaning and material. Editor: Yes, a beautiful testament to the layered nature of art.