Meer aan de voet van de Bandaisan berg 1917

Morita Tsunetomo made this landscape of a lake at the foot of Mount Bandai, but when exactly, we aren't sure. The colour is quietly understated in this print, as if the ink was applied in layers and then rubbed back to create a soft atmospheric effect. This feels like a process of revealing the image, slowly, rather than imposing the artists will upon the world. I’m drawn to the cross-hatching that describes the water's surface, it gives a sense of movement across the plane, and I notice the way it differs from the hatching on the islands, which are much more solid and static. This tiny detail opens up a whole spatial world in the work. Tsunetomo makes me think of someone like Agnes Martin, in how he takes an image of nature and reduces it to its most essential, calming components.