Cabbage

SONG BAOCHUN (1748-AFTER 1817)
Cabbage
Hanging scroll, ink on paper
154 x 94 cm. (60 ⁵⁄₈ x 37 in.)
Inscribed and signed, with three seals of the artist

Suma Yakichiro (1892-1970) was a notable Japanese diplomat and art collector who was a close friend of Qi Baishi. As an important diplomat during the Showa era (1926-1989), Suma was acquainted with many Chinese artists while he was posted in China, working in Guangzhou and Nanjing. With his deep understanding of Chinese modern paintings, he was able to establish a comprehensive collection within a single decade. Unlike many other Japanese collectors of the time, Suma focused his collecting on modern Chinese paintings. He immersed himself in researching modern artists and schools, recording the systematic ordering and cataloguing of his expansive collection in his diaries. In 2012 the Kyoto National Museum held a special exhibition entitled Modern Chinese Painting and Japan, which featured numerous works donated from his collection. The exhibition catalogue provided an important record of 183 of Mr Suma’s diaries. Six of seven works included in this sale are still housed in the blue cloth that Mr. Suma produced to preserve his painting and calligraphy collection. Mr. Suma also inscribed detailed provenance records and appraisals onto all the cloth and the back of mounting of his paintings, demonstrating the extreme diligence with which he approached his responsibilities as a collector.