“Waterfall "
Hashimoto Kansetsu Japanese
Hashimoto Kansetsu, the noted painter of Nihonga (modern Japanese-style painting) and calligrapher, has boldly inscribed a large character reading “waterfall” (taki 瀧). To the left he quotes a line from a poem in Chinese by the journalist-poet Narushima Ryūhoku (1837–1884), who composed it during a visit to America in 1873. After viewing Niagara Falls for the first time, he wrote:
瀧 萬丈珠簾捲月明
The waterfall—
A ten-thousand-foot jeweled curtain
unfurls, glistening in the moonlight.
—Trans. John T. Carpenter
This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.