Ink Plum
Byōsen Myōshitsu Japanese
Not on view
Symbolic of the arrival of spring, plum blossoms were a frequent subject in Japanese seasonal poetry. Following the introduction of Chinese ink works to Japan, the motif became popular among Zen painters. Each of these hanging scrolls bears the crimson seal of the monk-painter Byōsen Myōshitsu. In the work on the left, areas of uninked paper represent a layer of snow, through which the blossoms on the branch are beginning to emerge. Rendered in sweeping strokes of dark ink, the plum branch on the right is in full bloom.
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