Kakemono Plum Blossoms over the Rock in Ink

A gnarled plum trunk formed of gray ink winds upward from the lower edge of the picture, while its branches ramify into the open picture space in fine, tension-filled lines. Scattered yellowish flower buds set delicate touches of color amid the otherwise monochrome branches, and a small yellow bird has settled on one of the upper branches.

To the right of the tree, a multi-line poem in elegant calligraphy has been added, lending the picture a literary dimension, as was customary in classical Chinese-Japanese painting. Signature and red seal at the upper right edge of the picture confirm the authorship. The early-blooming plum tree is regarded in Japan as a symbol of perseverance and approaching spring, as it blooms even before the leaves emerge and often in the last snow.

The painting on paper is set within an olive-green silk border with a fine scrolling vine pattern and gold decorative stripes; the work was created in the Shôwa period. This combination of ink painting and poem makes the hanging scroll an atmospheric example of scholarly Japanese landscape art, ideally suited for display in spring.