Kakemono Two Dragons Ascending Through the Clouds

Between dense, ink-blurred cloud banks, a dragon spirals upward – with widely spread, powerfully curved wings, its scaled back and curved claws half hidden in the mist. This pure ink painting dispenses entirely with color, relying instead on a virtuosic interplay of deep black, fine gradations of gray, and reserved empty space, making the movement and primal power of the mythical creature all the more striking.

The dragon is one of the oldest and most significant pictorial motifs of East Asia: as ruler over water and weather, as a symbol of power, wisdom, and cosmic energy. This depiction of the dragon in a sea of clouds draws on a long pictorial tradition, rendered here with confident brushwork and a great sense of dynamism. The painting bears the signature and seal of the painter Bunkai and was created in the Meiji period.

Painted on paper and fitted with a wooden jikusaki mounting, this hand-painted unique work combines traditional sumi-e skill with an impressive, almost dramatic pictorial effect that lends any room a powerful presence.