“Bluish-Green Fish Scales”
Tan’yū is best known as the heir to the mantle of the Kano school of painters in the early seventeenth to mid-seventeenth century, so it comes as a surprise to see a boldly inscribed pair of oversize Chinese characters signed with his art name. Yet several works by the famous artist survive written in the so-called Daishi-ryū style of calligraphy, named after the monk Kōbō Daishi, the founder of Shingon sect of Buddhism in Japan. Kōbō Daishi is said to have sometimes practiced a highly exuberant and expressive form of calligraphy, which became immensely popular among Zen monks and literati in the Edo period. Here the two characters read “Hekirin,” literally, the “bluish-green scales” of a fish such as bonito tuna. In this case, however, it may be drawn from a verse of the Song poet Su Shi who wrote a poem (Huái shàng zǎo fā淮上早發) likening the rippling of waves on West Lake to luminescent bluish-green fish scales.
Artwork Details
- 碧鱗
- Title: “Bluish-Green Fish Scales”
- Artist: Kano Tan'yū (Japanese, 1602–1674)
- Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
- Date: mid-17th century
- Culture: Japan
- Medium: Hanging scroll; ink on paper
- Dimensions: Image: 44 1/2 × 10 5/8 in. (113 × 27 cm)
Overall with mounting: 73 × 11 3/8 in. (185.4 × 28.9 cm) - Classification: Calligraphy
- Credit Line: Gift of Florence and Herbert Irving, 2015
- Object Number: 2015.500.9.52
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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Kano Tan'yū
probably 17th or 18th century
Kano Tan'yū
dated 1666
Kano Tan'yū
dated 1666
Kano Tan'yū
1670
Kano Tan'yū
1670
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