Mount Fuji and the Miho Pine Forest

The pair of folding screens is by one of the best known painters in Japan, Soga Shōhaku, revered for his unusual subjects and eccentric painting style. The iconic subject of Mount Fuji is here paired with the rising dragon, a rare and early expression of this auspicious subject and the earliest known large-scale version of this theme.

Shōhaku’s unparalleled technical skills with ink painting, and his irreverence with traditional norms, are on full display in this work. Ink paintings, having no way to distinguish texture, color, light and shadow other than with different applications of monochrome ink, are regarded as the peak of artistic accomplishment in East Asia. Here, Shōhaku is adept at describing lush trees, craggy rocks, and a snow-covered mountain, but also intangible aspects such as wind, rain, and clouds. Mount Fuji itself is painted in the negative with the white of the paper expressing the snow-covered mountain whose contours are created with layers of ink wash surrounding it. Reading from right to left, the landscape begins calm with a view of the bay and distant hills, until one encounters the rising dragon encased in clouds who is kicking up the wind and rain, affecting the boats on the water. In his wake, the dragon leaves behind a turbulent atmosphere with dark clouds surrounding Fuji. Within the landscape, all four seasons are depicted, from spring’s blossoming cherry trees to the deep snow of winter, and there is even a glimpse of the famous Tōkaidō road.