Skip to main content Skip to search Skip to main navigation

Grasses in the Wind

Kakemono, unique work, 188 x 50 cm
Product number: 3793

Sold – no longer available

This piece was a handmade one-of-a-kind work. It cannot be reordered and will never exist in this form again. The page stays online as part of our archive.

You might like these pieces

Details about the sold piece

  • Height 188 cm
  • Width 50 cm
  • Item Type Kakemono
  • Jikusaki Wood
  • Material Honshi Paper
  • Period of Creation Shôwa (1926–1989)
  • Technique Hand-Painted
  • Unique Work Yes
Sold

No longer available

Description

Slender blades of grass, painted in dynamic sweeping strokes, grow out of two rocky elevations and bend as if caught by a gentle gust of wind. Small blossoms, indicated in dark ink, are set among the long blades, while in the lower part of the image a second, denser growth of drop-like brush dabs rounds off the motif and reinforces the impression of movement.

To the right of the plants, a multi-line poem is inscribed in fine calligraphy, its lines telling, among other things, of the wind that moves the slender blades – a direct connection between the written word and the painted image, characteristic of literati painting. Signature and red seal confirm the authorship of this reduced yet remarkably lively composition.

Executed in ink on paper and mounted in a shimmering golden-brown silk border, this hanging scroll was created in the Shôwa period. The focus on a seemingly simple motif such as grasses demands a particularly assured sense of linework and rhythm from the painter, so that this work, despite its restraint, develops a remarkable painterly depth.

Frequently asked

No – as a one-of-a-kind piece it exists in a single example only.
We would be glad to look for one. Get in touch with the details of the object you are looking for and we will see what we can do.
Because the two pieces of information speak about different things: the period designation describes the object – support, colors, condition – while the signature reflects which name appears on the painting. In most cases there is no attempt at deception behind this, but rather Japanese painting training: copying from workshop models was the curriculum for centuries, an utsushi is regarded as a bow to the teacher, workshops signed with the master's name, and artist names were passed down within a school. Such a hanging scroll is therefore not a forgery, but a hand-painted one-of-a-kind that continues the formal language of its school – just not the work of the famous name, and priced accordingly. We explain this in detail in the guide Why does a kakemono often bear the signature of an artist long deceased?.