Kakemono Calligraphy in Flowing Cursive Script

Loose and with confident momentum, the characters of this calligraphy connect into a flowing line that runs from top to bottom across the paper, making the movement of the writing hand immediately palpable. Individual strokes interlock, as if they had emerged in a continuous, uninterrupted flow.

The meaning of the characters can be translated approximately as the statement that the heart of man resembles the stars in the sky – an image for the quiet vastness and unfathomability of the human spirit, as it has been taken up again and again in the classical calligraphy tradition. A red seal accompanies the signature at the lower edge of the image and completes the composition.

Written on paper, fitted with plastic roller ends, and dating from the Meiji period, this hand-painted unique work is a vivid example of Japanese calligraphic art, combining expressive power with depth of meaning and appealing particularly to collectors of calligraphy. Such scrolls were often hung in private studies to encourage concentration and reflection.