Two Poems from One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets

Measuring nearly twenty-five meters (about 82 ft.) in length, the handscroll to which this fragment once belonged originally comprised the one hundred poems from the Ogura hyakunin isshu (One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets).[1] The anthology is traditionally attributed to the poet Fujiwara Teika (1162–1241; see cat. no. 39), who is said to have compiled the volume at his country villa on Mount Ogura, giving the work its name. The anthology has long been a favorite in Japan, known primarily through a game using one hundred playing cards with the poems written on them that was, until recently, an indispensable part of the New Year's Day celebration. The handscroll was severely damaged during the earthquake of 1923, and fifty-seven poems—numbers 1–20, 27–32, 51–73, 81–85, 93, 94, and 96—were lost. The surviving sections have been divided among several collections.[2]

The scroll was composed of sheets of paper dyed in different colors, with under-decorations in gold and silver by Sōtatsu (died ca. 1640) that described the life cycle of the lotus. Starting with large leaves shown floating on water, the illustrative sequence moved through the plant's nascency, with tight buds supported by upright stems; its florescence, with open blossoms; and finally its decline, with withered leaves and fallen petals. Enigmatically, a few flowers were once again in full bloom at the very end.

The large golden leaf in this fragment stands erect, flanked by a segment of another leaf and a slender stalk. The lotus is in its full maturity, just before it begins to wane. The long stem at the left was part of a large, drooping leaf riddled with wormholes. Soft pools of gold ink create amorphous patterns within the leaves. The two poems over Sōtatsu's design were inscribed by Hon'ami Kōetsu (1558–1637). Poem 79 in the anthology is by Fujiwara Akisuke (1090–1155), whose name is given together with his official title, Sakyō Daibu (Minister of the Office of the East District):

Akikaze ni tanabiku kumo
no taema yori
more izuru tsuki no kage no sayakesa

How bright and clear is the harvest moon
that shines through the cloud,
driven by the autumn wind.[3]

Poem 80 at the left is by a twelfth-century poet of the Fujiwara family who is commonly known as Taikenmon'in Horikawa, as she served as lady-in-waiting at the court of the empress dowager, Taikenmon'in:

Nagakaran kokoro mo shirazu
kurokami no
midarete kesa wa mono o koso omoe

As I wonder this morning how long the love
of my beloved will endure,
my thoughts wander in disarray
like my long black hair.[4]

Stylistic analysis of Kōetsu's calligraphy suggests that the scroll may be dated slightly later than the two album leaves with poems from the Kokinshū inscribed and decorated by the same artists (cat. no. 83). Such a date is corroborated by the fact that at the end of the scroll are Kōetsu's signature and the name of his studio, Taikyoan (Studio of Great Emptiness), which he built in the village of Takagamine, northwest of Kyoto, in 1615. Kōetsu's rounded characters are here slightly less bold and supple than in the earlier works; the brushstrokes often end in pencil-sharp points (especially noticeable in the small letters at the extreme left). The brush moved slowly, at times hesitantly, and characters are disconnected; the once powerful brushstrokes, which formerly followed briskly from one character to the next, without leaving the paper have lost their strength. In places Kōetsu's hand appears to have trembled, a symptom perhaps of the rheumatism of which he complained in a letter of about 1612.[5] Certainly his calligraphic style altered slightly after the age of fifty. Thus, the scroll may be dated to after 1615, when he was fifty-four. It marks the final collaboration of two great masters.

The presence of the lotus plant, so important in Buddhist iconography, may indicate that Kōetsu intended the scroll as a tribute to his mother, who died in 1618, a suggestion that has a particular poignancy, as it may explain the resurgence of blossoms at the end of the scroll, after the plant's decline.[6] Because the leaves and flowers toward the end are delineated in less fluid lines, they are sometimes believed to be additions made by Kōetsu rather than by Sōtatsu.[7]

[Miyeko Murase 2000, Bridge of Dreams]

[1] Yasuda 1948; and Mosrow 1996.
[2] For the extant sections, see Kōetsu sho Sōratsu kingindei-e 1978, fig. 148.
[3] Yasuda 1948, p. 40.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Hayashiya Tatsusaburō et al. 1964, letter 59.
[6] Ibid., p. 80.
[7] Ibid., p. 66.

Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation , New York (until 2015; donated to MMA)

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Ishikawa Prefectural Museum. "Nihon bijutsu meihin ten: nyūyōku bāku korekushon," July 13, 1985–August 11, 1985.

Nagoya City Art Museum. "Nihon bijutsu meihin ten: nyūyōku bāku korekushon," August 17, 1985–September 23, 1985.

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Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt. "Die Kunst des Alten Japan: Meisterwerke aus der Mary and Jackson Burke Collection," September 16, 1990–November 18, 1990.

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Philadelphia Museum of Art. "The Arts of Hon'ami Koetsu, Japanese Renaissance Master," July 28, 2000–October 29, 2000.

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New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Great Waves: Chinese Themes in the Arts of Korea and Japan II," March 22–September 21, 2003.

Museum of Fine Arts, Gifu. "Enduring Legacy of Japanese Art: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection," July 5, 2005–August 19, 2005.

Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum. "Enduring Legacy of Japanese Art: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection," October 4, 2005–December 11, 2005.

Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum. "Enduring Legacy of Japanese Art: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection," January 24, 2006–March 5, 2006.

Miho Museum. "Enduring Legacy of Japanese Art: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection," March 15, 2006–June 11, 2006.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Celebrating the Arts of Japan: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection," October 20, 2015–May 14, 2017.

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Tsuji Nobuo 辻惟雄, Mary Griggs Burke, Nihon Keizai Shinbunsha 日本経済新聞社, and Gifu-ken Bijutsukan 岐阜県美術館. Nyūyōku Bāku korekushon-ten: Nihon no bi sanzennen no kagayaki ニューヨーク・バーク・コレクション展 : 日本の美三千年の輝き(Enduring legacy of Japanese art: The Mary Griggs Burke collection). Exh. cat. [Tokyo]: Nihon Keizai Shinbunsha, 2005, cat. no. 91.

Graham, Patricia J. Faith and Power in Japanese Buddhist Art, 1600–2005. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2007, p. 168, fig. 6.10.

Murase, Miyeko, Il Kim, Shi-yee Liu, Gratia Williams Nakahashi, Stephanie Wada, Soyoung Lee, and David Sensabaugh. Art Through a Lifetime: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection. Vol. 1, Japanese Paintings, Printed Works, Calligraphy. [New York]: Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, [2013], p. 148, cat. no. 174.

Lippit, Yukio, and James T. Ulak. Sōtatsu. Exh. cat. Washington, D.C.: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, [2015], pp. 30, 221–22, cat. no. 22, fig. 2.6.