Landscape

Object Details

• Artist

  Soen (late 15th- early 16th century)

• Description

  Mounting: futai/chuberi: medium blue silk damask, four-lobed lozenges with dragons on diamond lattice ground

  joge: blue-grap plain weave silk

  ichimonji: kinsha (brocaded gauze), gold on medium brown

  jiku: ivory

  Signature: "Soen hitsu [painted by Soen] rectangular red seal: Soen, haboku-style landscape.

• Signatures

  This painting has the signature, "Soen hitsu" (brush of Soen), written over a seal reading "Josui" (like water).

  This painting has the signature, "Soen hitsu" (brush of Soen), written over a seal reading "Josui" (like water).

• Marks

  This painting has a rectangular red seal reading "Josui" (like water).

• Label

  A few strokes of ink reflecting the energy and assurance of the artist’s vision create this landscape of a steep bank rising from and expanse of water. A closer look reveals two huts nestled near a bridge at left, trees above on the bank, and a boat floating on the water at right. Such landscapes, often painted in the most minimal terms, are known in Japanese as haboku (Chinese: pomo), meaning literally “broken ink” (or “inkbreaking”). The artist Soen, a Zen Buddhist monk from Kamakura, traveled to distant Yamaguchi to study with the eminent painter Sesshu, from whom he learned this technique. Painting and viewing haboku landscapes, which were admired by Zen Buddhist monks, challenges the imagination and requires full concentration of the mind.

• Provenance

  Hosomi Minoru, Japan [1]

  To 1998

  Peggy and Richard M. Danziger, New York purchased from Hosomi Minoru, to 1998 [2]

  From 1998

  Freer Gallery of Art, given by Peggy and Richard M. Danziger in 1998

  Notes:

  [1] According to Curatorial Note 2, Ann Yonemura, May 5, 1998, in the object record.

  [2] See note 1.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Mind Over Matter: Zen in Medieval Japan (March 5, 2022 - July 24, 2022)

  Zen, Tea, and Chinese Art in Medieval Japan (December 13, 2014 to June 14, 2015)

  Landscapes in Japanese Art (February 2 to July 15, 2007)

  Beyond the Legacy--Anniversary Acquisitions of the Freer Gallery of Art (October 11, 1998 to April 11, 1999)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Hosomi Minoru (1922-2006)

  Peggy and Richard M. Danziger

• Origin

  Japan

• Credit Line

  Gift of Peggy and Richard M. Danziger

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1520s, 1400s

• Name

  Hosomi, Minoru, Danziger, Peggy and Richard M.

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Landscapes, Art, Muromachi period (1333 - 1573), Japanese Art, Kakemono

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Paintings