In this dramatic close-up of a single landscape element, Ikeda Koson renders a timeless moment in a grove of hinoki cypresses. He depicts an atmosphere of misty space and shifting light by skillfully varying ink tones from black to gray in the leaves of frond-like branchlets. Texture and form result from the application of wet ink over pale washes on the tree trunks.
Koson, a pupil of the Rinpa revivalist Sakai Hōitsu (1761–1828), brought a fresh vitality to standard themes in the Rinpa repertoire through his virtuoso brushwork and ability to convey naturalistic forms without sacrificing the bold decorative impact of his predecessors.
Credit: Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015
Mid-19th century
Two-panel folding screen; ink on paper
150.6 x 160.2 cm
2015.300.97
Image and text © Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2019
Permanent collection