Selections from the Collection of Japanese Poems from Ancient and Modern Times (Kokin wakashū) with Design of Pines Along the Shore
Medium
handscroll; ink on silk with gold and silver
Dimensions
32.7 × 549 cm
Classification
Calligraphy
Department
Japanese Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
Accession Number
1972.67
Tags
male
About this artwork
The calligrapher and craftsman Hon’ami Kōetsu frequently collaborated with Tawaraya Sōtatsu, a painter who ran a studio that produced fans and screens. Sōtatsu’s work featured abstracted and flattened shapes, fields of color and gold, and asymmetry. In particular, motifs that appeared in small scale, such as flora and fauna, in early decorated Japanese papers were painted in a larger scale—blown up as if seen under a magnifying glass. For this handscroll, Kōetsu brushed poems from the autumn sec...