Search Results

Title

Calligraphy: "And naturally ripens into fruit"

Artist

Tetsugen (Ôbaku) Doko

Physical Description

Hanging scroll with five large calligraphic kanji characters. The lower right contains further text and orangish read seals. The background brocade on which it is mounted is green and gold and has a floral design. Two strips of other material lie across the top and bottom of the white material on which teh calligraphy is painted. These strips also have a floral design and a light gold/yellow background.

Artist Life Dates

active 1630-1682

Century

17th century

Object Creation Date

circa 1660-1682

Accession Number

1968/2.19

Medium and Support

ink on paper

relevance

rank 22.92553

Primary Keywords

buddhism

calligraphy

ch'an

fruit

ink

zen

zen buddhism

Title

"Snow": calligraphy scroll

Artist

Muan Xingtao (aka (J. Ôbaku Mokuan))

Physical Description

The large character for snow in block script is juxtaposed with lines of smaller characters in running script. The large character is drawn with unhurried, thick, even strokes in dense, unbroken black ink with blunt contours, while the smaller characters are brushed rapidly, with strokes of varying thickness, a pronounced diagonal tilt, and sharp edges.

Artist Life Dates

1611-1684

Century

17th century

Object Creation Date

circa 1655-1675

Accession Number

1986/1.205

Medium and Support

ink on paper

relevance

rank 22.55086

Primary Keywords

buddhism

calligraphy

hanging scrolls

snow

zen

zen buddhism

Title

Zen eccentric contemplating a fish

Artist

Kanô Tsunenobu

Physical Description

A shabbily dressed figure holds out at arm’s length a small fish. He is completely focused on his catch, and his mouth almost seems to drool. The face, hands, and feet are sketched in a deliberately simplistic way, while the costume is drawn with only a few swift slashes of the brush, and the strokes bleed into each other.

Artist Life Dates

(active 1636 - 1713)

Century

17th-18th century

Object Creation Date

mid 17th century - early 18th century

Accession Number

1962/1.105

Medium and Support

hanging scroll, ink on paper

relevance

rank 20.85066

Primary Keywords

fish

hanging scrolls

ink

zen

zen buddhism

Title

Calligraphy of a Zen epigram

Artist

Hamada Shôji

Physical Description

Calligraphic text of Zen epigram, signature to bottom right.

Artist Life Dates

(Tokyo, 1894 - 1978, Mashiko)

Century

20th century

Object Creation Date

1967

Accession Number

1980/2.219

Medium and Support

ink on paper

relevance

rank 19.52409

Primary Keywords

calligraphy

zen

zen buddhism

Title

Calligraphy of a Zen epigram: Yesterday I was in my rustic home, today I am not there; tomorrow I will be elsewhere. [signature]

Artist

Hamada Shôji

Physical Description

Calligraphy of a Zen epigram with signature: Yesterday I was in my rustic home, today I am not there; tomorrow I will be elsewhere.

Artist Life Dates

(Tokyo, 1894 - 1978, Mashiko)

Century

20th century

Object Creation Date

1967

Accession Number

1980/2.220

Medium and Support

ink on paper

relevance

rank 16.94302

Primary Keywords

calligraphy

zen buddhism

Title

Hotei

Artist

Ogata Kôrin

Physical Description

The shape of the circle repeats four times in this painting. It appears in the plump body of Hotei, his head, his large white sack, and the overall shape of the fan.

Artist Life Dates

(Kyoto, 1658 - 1716)

Century

18th century

Object Creation Date

circa 1700-1716

Accession Number

1965/1.157

Medium and Support

ink and light color on paper

relevance

rank 15.09695

Primary Keywords

circles (plane figures)

deity

fans (costume accessories)

hanging scrolls

mythology (literary genre)

zen buddhism