Sugai Baikan 菅井梅関
Japanese, 1784–1844
BiographySugai Baikan, a native of Sendai, first studied Nanga painting in his hometown under an obscure artist named Nemoto Jônan (dates unknown). He later moved to Edo, where he became a pupil of Tani Bunchô (1763-1840). After studying with Bunchô for some years, Baikan moved to Nagasaki, where he became the student of a Chinese Orthodox-school painter named Jiang Dalai (1744-ca. 1839). He is said to have adopted the sobriquet Baikan (literally, "plum blossom gate") during this period, after Jiang honored him with a request for a painting of that flowering tree. After leaving Jiang, Baikan lived briefly in Kyôto, where he became a familiar of the poet Rai Sanyo (1781-1832). Sometime after 1824, Baikan returned to Sendai and lived out the remainder of his years as a painter for one of the lords of the Date clan.