Grapes

Motsurin Jōtō (Bokusai) Japanese

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 224

In this tour de force of brushwork, the monk-calligrapher Motsurin Jōtō rendered clusters of grapes and leaves on a vine. In addition to the varied tones achieved with the brush, Motsurin impressed his fingerprints into some of the grapes while the ink was wet, imbuing the work with distinctive traces of the physical act of creation. Above, four columns of a Chinese poem appear in Motsurin’s own dynamic calligraphy:

醉中倒東海　拾得老龍鬚
醒來間点撿　猶自帶驪珠　　
　
While drunk,
I fell into the Eastern Sea,
Reaching for and grasping
the aged dragon’s whiskers.
After finally awakening
and examining things,
I am still carrying
the dragon’s black pearls.

—Trans. Tim T. Zhang

Grapes, Motsurin Jōtō (Bokusai) (Japanese, died 1492), Hanging scroll; ink on paper, Japan

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Grapes, Motsurin Jōtō (Bokusai) (Japanese, died 1492), Hanging scroll; ink on paper, Japan
Grapes, Motsurin Jōtō (Bokusai) (Japanese, died 1492), Hanging scroll; ink on paper, Japan
Grapes, Motsurin Jōtō (Bokusai) (Japanese, died 1492), Hanging scroll; ink on paper, Japan
Grapes, Motsurin Jōtō (Bokusai) (Japanese, died 1492), Hanging scroll; ink on paper, Japan

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