Description

A narrow waterfall drops from a great height over a dark rock face, forming the brightest point in a scenery otherwise held entirely in tones of gray. To its right, two thatched-roof farmhouses stand behind a low fence, and in front of them a narrow footbridge crosses the water, with a tiny figure making its way across.

The work draws its life entirely from the contrast of ink: the mist eats its way through the valley in broad, soft bands, swallowing the mountainside in the background almost completely and making the individual dark conifers stand out all the more sharply. This technique of working with unpainted areas just as much as with deliberate brushstrokes is at the core of East Asian landscape painting. The tiny figure on the footbridge is suggested with barely more than three strokes, yet it still gives the gorge its sense of scale.

Misty landscapes traditionally stood for the transience of all appearances and the constant flux of nature, which is why they were especially prized within the circle of Zen aesthetics. A signature and red seal appear in the lower right, with a further seal in the upper right. As a silkscreen print on silk, this hanging scroll is a restrained, atmospherically dense choice.