Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Old Trees in Lonely Springtime
Urakami (Uragami) Gyokudō Japanese
Not on view
Gyokudō inscribed the majority of his paintings with a four-character title, each unique to the individual work. Though they purport to describe the painting, the titles likely also refer to Gyokudō’s feelings when he created them. “Old Trees” was probably meant to convey the artist’s view of his own advancing years, and “Lonely Springtime” the feeling that it brings the artist no brightening of mood.
Gyokudō was born near Okayama Castle to an ancient warrior family and received early training in Confucian studies and Chinese literature as well as learning to paint and play the seven-stringed qin. At the age of 50, he retired and began a life devoted to art and music, wandering and drinking, carrying the qin and his brushes, playing and painting as he traveled, finally settling in Kyoto.
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