BachmannEckenstein | JapaneseArt

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BachmannEckenstein | JapaneseArt

For twenty years art lovers have been finding pleasure, inspiration, and enjoyment in Japanese art

Since 1999 Thomas Bachmann and Gabriel Eckenstein have been dealing and consulting in Japanese art.

Thomas Bachmann and Gabriel Eckenstein launched their international business in 1999. They specialize in painting, calligraphy, and ceramics from the Momoyama up to the Taisho Period, 16th to early 20th centuries.

Dealing always was and still is their main business. Nevertheless consulting and

curating have become more and more important, for both private clients, and museums. Whereas consulting can be a short term assignment in the process of decision shaping and decision making, curating tends to be a long term involvement with a collection. Depending on the client’s vision, we can help the client to create strategies to build, to improve, or to dissolve a collection. BachmannEckenstein | JapaneseArt are based in Basel the cultural capital of Switzerland, right in the center of the old continent and half way between Japan and the United States. They are regular participants and exhibitors of New York Asia Week. Exhibitions in their gallery in a 19th century residential building are held occasionally.

13/11/2025

You can also follow on Instagram to see more.
https://www.instagram.com/bachmanneckenstein/

28/08/2025

SUBSTANCE Ausstellung während Kunsttage Basel von Simon Studer & BachmannEckenstein bei Angela Berney, Münsterplatz 17

27/08/2025

SUBSTANCE Opening
Thursday 28 Aug 2025 6pm
Münsterplatz 17

21/08/2025

The lilies blooming by the hedge of my beloved house –
when called “yuri,” the name sounds like “not desiring.”

A poem by Kino Toyokawa, drawn by Inui Tai from the Man’yoshu (Book VIII, Poem 1466). In the love poems of this ancient anthology (compiled in the 8th century), wordplays often convey the tension of romance, longing, or rejection. - The speaker looks at the lilies blooming by his beloved’s hedge. The word yuri (lily) phonetically overlaps with iyuri (unwilling or not desiring). This creates a punning lament: the flowers’ very name seems to echo the woman’s unwillingness, as though nature itself voices her rejection.

Inui Tai (1929-2023)
Woodblock print on paper
27.1 x 24.4 cm (10½ in. x 9½ in.)
Papersize 30.9 x 31.1 cm (12 x 12¼ in.)
https://wix.to/3H6B6Al

20/08/2025

The inscription literally means "to explain a dream within a dream." In Zen Buddhism this popular phrase is used to express the idea that all phenomena - everything we experience in the world - are ultimately impermanent, insubstantial, and illusory, like dreams. Trying to explain or fully understand such phenomena is like trying to explain a dream while still dreaming: the explanation is embedded in the same unreality as the thing itself.

The inscription is a poetic metaphor for the limits of human understanding and the elusive nature of reality. It reminds us that what we take to be real and stable may, on a deeper level, be as fleeting and unfixed as a dream.

It can also be seen as a comment on language and thought: any attempt to capture truth through words is itself part of the illusion. Rather than grasping for certainty, Muchu setsumu encourages acceptance of ambiguity and transience—core themes in Zen.
https://wix.to/psLqP7t

19/08/2025

Shibata Zeshin brushed this heartfelt letter of recommendation as a final gesture of support to his departing student.

In the vibrant artistic landscape of 19th-century Japan, Shibata Zeshin reigned supreme as the foremost lacquer artist of his time. Under his tutelage flourished Ikeda Taishin (1825–1903), a brilliant apprentice destined for greatness.

In February of 1856, after more than two decades of dedicated apprenticeship, Taishin boldly embarked on his Grand Tour—a quest for artistic enlightenment and personal growth. A year later, he returned, fueled with inspiration, and established his own studio in bustling Asakusa, just a stone’s throw from his mentor Zeshin.

Taishin’s first destination on this transformative journey was Kyoto, where he planned to visit Gosetsu—a dear friend of Zeshin's, renowned for his confectionery shop and passion for collecting paintings. This letter serves as Taishin’s heartfelt announcement of his upcoming visit, brimming with anticipation to reconnect with Gosetsu and share his artistic evolution.

«I write this letter to you as I am enjoying lovely spring like days and tender skies. I hope that nothing disturbing happened to you so far. My apprentice Kyuzaburo [=Ikeda Taishin] is studying in Kyoto for a while. And I would like to ask you to let him see the splendid scrolls you have in your house. I am counting on your generous heart. And I am terribly sorry for my messy writing. Please throw this letter in a bank of reed. I will thank you in person sometime soon. - February 11th, Shibata Zeshin to Gosetsu.»

https://wix.to/EYi85hX

19/08/2025

Inui Tai (1929-2023) was a Japanese artist and master woodblock printer whose work reflects a profound devotion to tradition and the natural beauty of postwar Japan. Born in 1929, Inui grew up during the transformative years following World War II, witnessing the rapid modernization that led to the loss of Japan’s scenic landscapes, traditional architecture, and rural life. As a boy, he felt a deep urgency to preserve the disappearing elements of his childhood environment, from rivers teeming with fish to red pine forests and water-driven mill wheels.

With limited access to materials, Inui began carving and printing the things he cherished, crafting tools and supplies from whatever he could find. Inspired by Lu Xun’s notion of the small but powerful baren, he embraced the constraints of poverty as a spur to creativity. In 1955, a transformative encounter with Munakata Shiko’s Eulogy to Flower Hunting in Kyoto revealed a new expressive language in woodblock printing—one that combined admiration for the past with a vibrant, contemporary vision.

Inui’s work spans landscapes, festivals, and the vanishing rural life of Japan. Through his prints, he sought not only to preserve tradition but to make it resonate in the present. His lifelong “wandering,” both literal and artistic, reflects a commitment to capturing the ephemeral beauty of his homeland while celebrating the enduring power of its cultural heritage.
https://wix.to/gCRwdj8

16/08/2025

Rai Sanyo was of Samurai descent and a man of letters. He was an outstanding historian, a thinker, and a poet. And as a master poet he was a mentor too. One of his mentees was Koishi Genzui (1787-1861), a successful medical doctor, an amateur poet and Genzui’s friend. For years he had been honing poems under Minagawa Kien. When Kien passed away in 1807 Genzui asked Rai Sanyo for support. And Sanyo did not refuse.

So, Sanyo had to do what mentors do. Read, fix, and eventually improve their mentees’ scribbling. But with Genzui it was more challenging than with Ema Saiko. Sanyo’s letter is rather informal in style, and very direct in expression:
"From the letter that you sent me, I learned that you got better. I am quite happy about this. I have been worried since I have heard that you were seriously ill.
The piece you rewrote, got worse as did your reasoning. It is too perfect, so the beauty of expression vanished. The beginning was good, since it implies a spring setting. But it lacks seasonal expressions. It could for example mention this year’s intercalary winter month.
I am sorry for the delay of the correction. I didn’t care because I thought there was no hurry."
On 24th day [of the twelfth month 1813], Yo [=Sanyo], to Tekei.

https://wix.to/RPj7s1z

15/08/2025

At the age of seventy, Shimizu Kosho made the life-changing decision: to end his monastic career and start a new chapter in his life. Instead of looking back with sadness, he felt proud of what he had accomplished. Kosho had held important roles, such as director of Todai-ji High School, head of religious affairs for the Kegon tradition, and eventually the 207th abbot of Todai-ji. But beyond these achievements, it was the time he spent in Kyoto, practicing Zen meditation and ink painting, that left a lasting impact on him. During his time in Kyoto, Kosho dove into the world of art with passion and curiosity. He studied under the talented “ink monk” Seki Seisetsu and found a deep love for painting. Though mostly self-taught, Kosho wasn’t afraid to experiment with different styles and techniques, giving his work boldness and freedom. “Covering Clouds Brew Rain” is a large unconventional and willfull landscape painting of a mounain clad in clouds. While the title may seem gloomy, the painting shows Kosho’s skill and audaciousness in capturing the impressive power of nature.

https://wix.to/kfUvo9h

14/08/2025

Shimizu Kosho’s artistic journey was profoundly shaped by his fascination with the raw and untamed creativity of children, whose uninhibited clay figures inspired some of his most evocative works.

https://wix.to/N7SD0uu

13/08/2025

When Matsunaga Yasuzaemon (1875-1971) reached the auspicious age of sixty, he pulled the plug. Until then he has been a most successful businessman and a key figure in the Japanese electric industry. He was the «King of Electricity». But at the age of sixty his focus changed, and he began to study, practice, and enjoy the tea ceremony. Matsunaga owned several prestigious houses in Atami, Odawara, and Yanase. But in 1939 he had built a modest tea house «Ichinichi-an» in Izu Dogashima, where he practiced an unconventional, free, and dynamic style of tea ceremony. When this Karatsu Kintsugi bowl came into Matsunaga’s collection in July 1965 he gave it the poetic name «Breaking Moon». The provenance is particularly interesting because Matsunaga donated his collection of tea utensils to the Tokyo National Museum in 1947. But probably kept some pieces he still wanted to use and obviously kept on collecting.

Breaking Moon: The poetic name given to this mended tea bowl evokes profound imagery and meaning, reflecting both the object’s physical transformation and the deeper principles of the Japanese tea ceremony. The moon, often a symbol of beauty, tranquility, and the passage of time, becomes even more poignant when imagined as breaking – an image of fragility and imperfection. The mended tea bowl mirrors this imagery finding beauty in impermanence and imperfection.

https://wix.to/HV0Vjw2

25/03/2025

Les marchands bâlois arrivent avec de l’art japonais traditionnel. Des paravents, des laques, des céramiques et des photos.

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