Selections from the Collection of Japanese Poems from Ancient and Modern Times (Kokin wakashū) with Design of Pines Along the Shore

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 section of a poetry anthology onto silk with a landscape of pines in gold and silver likely painted by Sōtatsu.

A handscroll features Japanese calligraphy in vertical columns across a horizontal landscape of muted tan and gray washes. On the right, pine trees rendered in gold and silver leaf line a shoreline. Faded gray washes extend toward the left, creating a sense of distance. The script varies from fine lines to thick brushstrokes and is scattered across the elongated composition.

Selections from the Collection of Japanese Poems from Ancient and Modern Times (Kokin wakashū) with Design of Pines Along the Shore

1600s

Hon'ami Kōetsu, Tawaraya Sōtatsu

(Japanese, 1558–1637), (Japanese, c. 1570–c. 1640)

Japan, Momoyama period (1573-1615) to Edo period (1615-1858)

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