池大雅筆　倣郭忠恕風雪景山水図|Wintry Landscape, in the Style of Guo Zhongshu

Ike Taiga

late 18th century · Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper · Asian Art

A small boat carrying the scholarly passenger, who might be on his way to visit a friend in one of the houses in the distance, is described by wavy, sharp, hard, and needle-thin lines. A cluster of smaller houses is seen in the distance at the right. The gray palette of the painting is highlighted by coal-black ink lines that delineate bare twigs of trees and rounded contours of hills and mountains. Ike Taiga’s inscription at the top right reads “After the brush of Guo Zhongshu, Ike Mumei” (Hō Kaku Chūjo hitsu Ike Mumei). Guo Zhongshu, a tenth-century Chinese painter, was known for his eccentric behavior. Taiga must have become acquainted with Guo’s name and work through painting manuals such as the Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting, introduced in Japan after its first publication in China in 1679.

Artist

Ike Taiga

Date

late 18th century

Medium

Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015