Fishing Boat on the Lake

Shunso studied under Tenshin Okakura and Gaho Hashimoto at Tokyo School of Fine Arts and later took part in the foundation of Nihon Bijutsuin. He did research on new techniques based on the traditions of Oriental art while also adopting Western painting techniques. Via morotai, an expression employing not line drawing but gradation, he accomplished a well-proportioned style of modern Japanese painting overflowing with a Japanese sense of beauty, which he learnt from classics such as the work by Sotatsu Tawaraya.

A fisherman drops his line on a foggy lake, where, other than the large and small rocks, only the horizon is implied by means of shading in sumi. This work dates from the period when Shunso renounced line drawing and blank spaces, which form the basis of nihonga, attempted mossensaiga, a style of painting in which the atmosphere and light were captured in hues, and approached Western painting. In those days, this style was referred to as “morotai.” Meanwhile, Shunso believed that studies of old paintings were indispensable for new creations and actively conducted research. The boat and the fisherman follow the example of a painting attributed to Ma Yuan, a Chinese painter of the Southern Song dynasty. Thus, this painting demonstrates an interesting style in which the two elements of mossensaiga, an experiment for Shunso’s new creation, and re-examination of old paintings are combined. Amidst the view of the lake, which extends literally in a haze, the tranquility flowing throughout all the works he painted in his lifetime is expressed together with a characteristic poetic sentiment.