Description

A fortified city wall with battlements and a gate tower under a curved tile roof stretches along the left bank, with several boats moored in front of it, their masts raised upright. In the foreground, a covered passenger boat glides across the calm water, poled by a boatman at the stern.

Above the scene rises a massive, brightly luminous rock formation, from whose crevices gnarled, largely bare trees grow. On the right, weeping willows with long hanging branches line the bank, lending the picture a soft, almost melancholic note. The entire ground is toned in a warm golden-brown, giving the ink painting an antiquated character. The masts of the moored boats repeat, as fine verticals, the rhythm of the hanging willow branches.

Motifs of this kind, in which a fortified city by the water is combined with the leisurely activity of river shipping, derive from the Chinese-influenced pictorial tradition. At the lower right are a two-column inscription with signature and a red seal. Executed as a screen print on silk, this hanging scroll titled "City Wall by the River with Willows" is a richly narrative, detailed piece.