Five Freestyle Haiku and a Chinese Couplet
Kawahigashi Hekigotō Japanese
Not on view
Six poems, five of which are freestyle haiku verse that the poet-calligrapher Kawahigashi Hekigotō became famous for, are dramatically transcribed upon this pair of two-panel folding screens in ink on gold-leafed paper. The sole Chinese verse couplet is part of a poem originally composed by Su Zhe (1039–1112), the younger brother of the revered Song-dynasty Chinese poet Su Shi (1037–1101). The de-constructed characters are presented in crooked columns in defiance of traditional East Asian calligraphic norms. A brush dripping in ink was used to create the rich ink tones and calligraphic strokes that that vary radically in thickness. They were conceived with a deliberate avoidance of calligraphic finesse, creating an impression of playfulness and near abstract design.
Hekigotō’s calligraphic style is influenced by Chinese calligraphy of the Six Dynasties, which was said to be introduced by Chinese scholar and calligrapher, Yang Shoujing (1839–1915) when visiting Japan on a diplomatic assignment.
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