Kakemono Kanzan and Jittoku with Broom

The hermit monk Kanzan seems to be writing into thin air with raised brush, while his laughing companion Jittoku looks over his shoulder – a humorous, immediate scene full of vitality. The characters 吾心似 written in the air are the opening of Kanzan's famous poem 吾心似秋月 ("My heart is like the autumn moon"), and the broom on the ground is Jittoku's attribute. With concise, confident lines Kanzan's robe and facial expression are worked out, while Jittoku is given a childlike lightness through softer, rounder forms, which stands in contrast to the writer's concentrated posture.

Such depictions of the eccentric hermits Kanzan and Jittoku draw on the long tradition of Zen-influenced figure painting, in which spontaneity and inner freedom are placed above formal perfection. The light, sketch-like execution lends this hanging scroll a particular immediacy and makes it a vivid example of humorous ink painting.