Splashed-Ink Landscape

Bokushō Shūshō’s evocative painting is a variation on a celebrated haboku (splashed-ink) landscape by the great master Sesshū Tōyō (1420–1506), now in the Tokyo National Museum. The haboku technique involves rapidly applying dark ink over still-wet, light washes to create a soft, diffused effect, with neither well-defined contour lines nor explicit details. In these aspects, haboku is often associated with the intuitive and contemplative mindset of Zen Buddhist spiritual practice. Bokushō, a high-ranking Rinzai Zen monk, achieved further renown in literary circles in Kyoto and later moved to western Honshū, where he befriended Sesshū. This abbreviated, mist-laden scene is also reminiscent of the work of the thirteenth-century Chinese artist Yujian, whose ink landscape paintings were much admired in Japan.