Larry Ellison is better known to the world as the highly competitive co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Oracle Corp as well as one of the world’s richest person. What many people may not know, however, is that Ellison is also an art lover who has built a fine collection of classical Japanese art. Ellison’s collection, while not large in numbers, includes many works of exception quality spanning a thousand years of Japanese artistic achievements. The earliest objects in the collection date to the Heian period (9th–10th century) and the latest, to the modern Showa period from 1926 to 1989. Most of the artworks are from the golden age of Japanese culture, the Edo era (1603–1868), including a number of paintings of the Rinpa style school, known for its vitality of colors, and the Kyoto school of the 18th century with its distinctive and charming depictions of animals such as cats and puppies, deer and cranes. Completing the collection are works of the earlier Kano style (15th–early 16th century) which looked to Chinese paintings and literature as well as Japanese literary classics as key sources of inspiration.

Selected Artworks from the Larry Ellison Collection

This large austere figure depicts a Shinto priest and dates to the Heian period in the 9th to 10th century. It is a rare example of a sculpture that shows the early influence of Buddhism in Japan.

An outstanding sculpture in the Larry Ellison collection is this gentle, meditative figure of two-year prince Shotoku Taishi. An ardent Buddhist devotee and founder of two important temples, the prince is regarded by the Japanese as a divine being. Here, he is shown in a prayerful posture, wearing hakama trousers that softly billow around his feet. Sculptural images of this form – called the “Prince praising the Buddha” or Namubutsu Taishi – appear for the first time during the Kamakura period (1185–1333). From the late 12th century forward to the Edo period, many such statutes were made but only a few hundreds have survived.

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“The Tale of Genji,” a 1,300-page tome written more than 1,000 years ago by a lady-in-waiting at the court of a Japanese emperor, is often described as the first’s first novel, and a touchstone of Japanese literature. The work is a unique depiction of the lifestyles of high courtiers during the Heian period. It became, for many centuries after its debut, a frequent source of inspiration for Japanese novelists, poets, and artists. Below is a sumptuous screen painting depicting scenes from the novel by the 16th-century artist, Kano Sōshū.

In the same style as the above work is a painting by Kano Sansetsu, a contemporary of Kano Sōshū featuring pines, bamboo, plum, cranes and turtles, auspicious symbols derived from Chinese culture.

Several masterful animal paintings of 18th century Kyoto artists are represented in the Ellison collection. Among them are two hanging scrolls by Maruyama Okyo (1733–1795), the first depicting two lively tigers and the other, a young cat sweetly asleep under a smallish plant whose leaves grow close to the ground.

The next three works are hanging scrolls by the mid-Edo painter, Ito Jakuchu, who is known for his experimentation with perspective and semi-abstract painting style.

Next, two exquisite works by the Edo-period painter, Suzuki Kitsu (1796–1858).

Below, a lovely Rinpa-style painting by Suzuki Kitsu (1796-1858) depicting spring and autumn foliage executed in ink, colors and gold on silk

I end this visual tour with a beautiful 1920s-era folding screen by Usumi Kiho (born 1873). The scene shows a peacock with her glorious tail fanned out. Close by, a raven turns back and stares intriguing at one of the peacock’s loose feathers as if resigned to her lack of beauty compared to the bigger bird.

Further study

Laura W. Allen, Melissa M. Rinne, and Emily J. Sano, In the Moment: Japanese Art from the Larry Ellison Collection, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, 2013.