Winter Tree with Seated Scholar
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.
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Details about the sold piece
- Height 120 cm
- Width 42 cm
- Item Type Makuri
- Material Honshi Paper
- Period of Creation Shôwa (1926–1989)
- Technique Hand-Painted
- Unique Work Yes
No longer available
Description
Bare and widely branching, a gnarled tree stretches upward, while at the foot of its trunk a small figure, indicated with only a few lines, rests quietly, gazing across the water toward distant mountains. The austere, almost wintry mood of the image, with its restrained gradations of ink, creates a contemplative, faintly melancholic atmosphere.
Such landscapes featuring a single, inward-turned scholar figure are among the classical themes of literati-style Chinese-Japanese painting and stand as a symbol of retreat, inner reflection, and the close bond between man and nature.
This work is a makuri, that is, the unmounted picture field of a hanging scroll without its customary textile mounting – only the actual pictorial section survives. The scene was painted by hand on paper in the Shôwa period. The free, sketch-like brushwork makes this unique work an evocative example of classical ink painting.
