Kakemono Plum Blossoms in a Vase

A branch of blooming plum blossoms, loosely placed in a plain vase – in Japanese painting, this motif has always stood for the arrival of spring and the quiet power inherent in new beginnings.

The hanging scroll bears the signature and seal of Yawata Hakuhan and shows the reduced pictorial language typical of ume painting: a few branches set down with a confident brushstroke, interspersed with delicately dabbed blossoms in shades of white and pink. The vase itself is only suggested, so that all attention is given to the blossoms.

The painting comes with its own wooden box, of the kind customary for the storage of high-quality kakemono. It protects the painting from light and moisture and makes storage easier when the hanging scroll is not hung. With its calm, unobtrusive composition, this work is particularly suited to the tokonoma during the winter months or at the turn of the year, when the plum blossom is traditionally regarded as the first herald of spring.