Kakemono River Landscape with Sailboats

A gentle, almost floating mood pervades this river landscape: between bizarrely towering karst rocks, small sailboats glide through calm water, while the contours of the distant mountains gradually dissolve into haze. Scattered fishermen's huts and wind-bent trees line the banks, lending the scenery a human scale, while further boats in the background hint at the vastness of the river's course.

Green and gray tones dominate the composition, lending the scenery a cool, almost South Chinese atmosphere, such as has long been popular in Japanese kakemono painting as an image of longing for distant, unspoiled river landscapes. A calligraphic inscription with a red seal completes the composition at the upper edge of the picture. The paper painting was made in the Shôwa period and has wooden axis ends.

The fine gradation of rock, water, and boats attests to a practiced hand and a great feel for depth and space. This hand-painted unique work brings a calm, expansive water world into one's own four walls and invites long, absorbed contemplation, fully in keeping with the quiet contemplation that has characterized this genre of painting for centuries.