Two mounted fan paintings [center of a set of three scrolls] c. 18th century

I Fukyū created this scroll, with its two mounted fan paintings, sometime before his death in 1747, using ink and color on silk. Immediately, the fan's shape strikes us, repeated twice, one above the other, yet each distinct in tone and execution. The upper fan commands attention with its warm, pinkish hue, densely filled with calligraphic script. These characters, rendered in precise strokes, create a texture that contrasts with the fan’s smooth surface, inviting us to contemplate the relationship between word and form, signifier and signified. Below, the second fan offers a landscape, spare and muted. A lone tree is depicted with delicate brushwork, its branches reaching across the fan’s ribs, suggesting nature's resilience. Here, the blank space becomes as crucial as the drawn elements. The superimposition of these fans creates a tension, challenging our notions of representation and perception, drawing us into a conversation about the interplay between art, nature, and text. Fukyū’s composition invites endless interpretations.