Dimensions 50 × 19 3/4 in. (127 × 50.17 cm) (image)78 3/8 × 24 1/4 in. (199.07 × 61.6 cm) (mount)
Nukina Kaioku created this ink on paper, Winter Landscape. Kaioku lived during a time of social and political change in Japan, as the Tokugawa shogunate was weakening and the country was opening up to foreign influence. The monochrome ink evokes a stark, almost melancholic, atmosphere, reflecting the artist's own experiences. Kaioku was a scholar and artist, deeply rooted in Confucian ideals of social harmony and personal cultivation. This landscape is not just a depiction of nature, but an emotional space. During this period, many Japanese artists turned to nature as a source of solace and inspiration, seeking to express their inner feelings through landscapes. Kaioku masterfully captures the emotional weight of the landscape. The muted tones and stark composition invite us to contemplate the intersection of personal identity and the natural world.
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Kaioku, the son of a samurai and archery instructor, was a scholar of Chinese studies and learned first under the official school of painting, the Kanō. Unsatisfied with the restrictive conventions, he traveled around Japan and finally settled in Kyoto, where he established his own school. He became especially known for his exquisite calligraphy and is ranked as one of the “Three Brushes of the End of the Edo Period.” The inscription reads, “After the snow, the rock and the ridge rise to the sky. The wind fluttered the raincoat and passes even through the heavy leather wear. The horse hair are like hedgehogs’ and the heart is like the water. We want to go to visit plum blossoms, but we may not be allowed to do so. In the first month of the winter in 1838, I copied the painting of Yuan dynasty at the journey in Awaji.”
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