Suzuki Kiitsu

Suzuki Kiitsu (鈴木其一) was a Japanese painter of the Rinpa school.

A student of the famous painter Sakai Hoitsu (1761–1828), he was for a long time considered a minor member of Rinpa school of Japanese painting. In recent years his work has been reevaluated and gained recognition, leading to a series of major exhibitions of his art in 2016–2017 in Tokyo, Hyogo and Kyoto.

Kiitsu is best known for his byōbu folding screens, often a reinterpretation of screens by other Rinpa artists, such as his massive Wind God and Thunder God following Tawaraya Sōtatsu (c. 1570 – c. 1640), Ogata Kōrin (1658–1716) and Hoitsu. But he has been most acclaimed for his original screens, including his famed Morning Glories and Mountain Stream in Summer and Autumn.

He was also a notable master with many pupils. Although he was not the official successor of Hoitsu's school, he trained himself many of the Edo Rinpa artists. This has sometimes been labeled as the Kiitsu school of Edo Rinpa.

Works
Mountain Stream in Summer and Autumn is a pair of six-panel byōbu folding screens made by Kiitsu using ink and color on gold-foiled paper. It depicts "a scene of mountain streams flowing through cypress groves highlighted by lilies and a cherry tree with a few red autumn leaves" but the effect of the screens has been described as "somehow strangely unreal" and "[having] a feeling of almost hyperrealism". It has been designated as an Important Cultural Property.

Another features noted in relation with Kōrin's Irises screens include "the rhythmical feel of the motifs and the brilliance of the blues and greens against the gold ground". The work shows influence of Tawaraya Sōtatsu, Ogata Kōrin and Sakai Hōitsu and has been described as "one of the great masterpieces of Rinpa painting".

Exhibitions

 * Suzuki Kiitsu: Standard-bearer of the Edo Rimpa School (2016, September 10 – October 30) Suntory Museum of Art, Tokyo
 * Suzuki Kiitsu: Standard-bearer of the Edo Rimpa School (2016, November 12 – December 25) Himeji City Museum of Art, Himeji
 * Suzuki Kiitsu: Standard-bearer of the Edo Rimpa School (2017, January 3 – February 19) Hosomi Museum, Kyoto