Artworks

Pine Forest

松林図屏風

Artwork · Hasegawa Tōhaku · late 16th century · byōbu · Tokyo National Museum

A pair of six-panel screens in monochrome ink without gold or colour by Hasegawa Tōhaku: tall pines seen from a distance in thick mist that hides the lower half of some and the middle of others, appearing and disappearing like grey apparitions — perhaps remembering Mu Qi’s bamboo in mist. Nature here is gentle and hospitable, not an awe-inspiring backdrop for a warlord. 1 Mason 2005, pp. 262–263, fig. 302. ↩ Literatur Mason 2005: Penelope E. Mason, History of Japanese Art, 2nd, Pearson Education LTD. 2005.