Landscape
In this highly original and provocative landscape in ink,a literati gentleman sits alone at the lower left, admiring the vastness of the natural world. Fukuda Kodōjin was a versatile artist whose talents extended beyond painting and calligraphy to poetry. He composed both Japanese and Chinese verse, including the poem inscribed at the upper right of the present work:
I am old now. Nothing pleases me;
nothing worries me, either.
Even though I am not dead yet,
I already rest from the world.
Gathering healing herbs and drinking water,
I yearn for Daoist cultivation.
Looking down and above, and reciting,
I wish to leave but I stay.
Rivers flowing and mountains towering,
The sun and moon hang above my head.
In the vast universe,
I travel alone at ease with nature.
—transl. Masako Watanabe
I am old now. Nothing pleases me;
nothing worries me, either.
Even though I am not dead yet,
I already rest from the world.
Gathering healing herbs and drinking water,
I yearn for Daoist cultivation.
Looking down and above, and reciting,
I wish to leave but I stay.
Rivers flowing and mountains towering,
The sun and moon hang above my head.
In the vast universe,
I travel alone at ease with nature.
—transl. Masako Watanabe
Artwork Details
- Title: Landscape
- Artist: Fukuda Kodōjin 福田古道人 (Japanese, 1865–1944)
- Period: Taishō period (1912–26)
- Date: 1922
- Culture: Japan
- Medium: Hanging scroll; ink on paper
- Dimensions: Image: 57 3/4 x 12 1/4 in. (146.7 x 31.1 cm)
Overall with mounting: 81 x 17 5/16 in. (205.7 x 44 cm)
Overall with knobs: 81 x 19 1/4 in. (205.7 x 48.9 cm) - Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Gift of Gitter-Yelen Collection, 2009
- Object Number: 2009.510
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
More Artwork
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Fukuda Kodōjin 福田古道人
early 20th century
Fukuda Kodōjin 福田古道人
1936
Fukuda Kodōjin 福田古道人
1928
Unidentified artist
Zhou Wenju
early 20th century
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probably 1940s
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