Plateau and Cypress, Yangzi and Willow, 1748

Details

Hyakusetsu Gen'yo (1668-1749)
Plateau and Cypress, Yangzi and Willow, 1748
Signed Kaiun hachiju-ichi o Hyakusetsu sho, sealed Isshisei and Hyakusetsu Yoshi no sho
Pair of hanging scrolls; ink on paper
41 3/8 x 10½in. (105.0 x 26.7cm.) each
(2)

Literature

John M. Rosenfield and Fumiko E. Cranston, Extraordinary Persons: Works by Eccentric, Nonconformist Japanese Artists of the Early Modern Era (1580-1868) in the Collection of Kimiko and John Powers, Vol. 1 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Art Museums, 1999), pp. 238-39, no. 62.

Special notice

This lot is offered without reserve.

Lot Essay

Hyakusetsu was a Japanese-born Obaku monk adept in calligraphy as well as literati painting. The Chinese inscription, implying the changing of seasons, has been translated:

The plateau is cold; the cypress trees green.
The [Yangzi] River is warm; the willow branches yellow.

Translation by Fumiko E. Cranston from Extraordinary Persons, Vol. 1 (1999), p. 238.

More from An Inquiring Mind: American Collecting of Japanese and Korean Art

View All