Minneapolis Institute of Art

Egrets in Willow [left of the pair Egrets in Plum and Willow]

Sesson Shūkei

Date

second half 16th century

Medium

Six-panel folding screen, one of a pair, ink on paper

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Born in remote eastern Japan, far from the cultural center of Kyoto, Sesson Shūkei taught himself to paint by studying the brush styles of earlier Chinese and Japanese masters, whose works were held in many old collections in the region. These screens reveal his keen interest in the Chinese Zen painter-monk Muqi (c. 1210–after 1269). Of the dozens of extant paintings by Sesson, a Zen priest himself, none so clearly attests to his admiration for Muqi as this misty, moonlit scene of herons cavorting around a gnarled old plum tree and willow. Using the so-called “boneless” technique for which Muqi was famous, Sesson avoided contour lines, relying instead on soft washes of ink. He also borrowed several motifs directly from paintings by Muqi. Indeed, this pair of screens is as much a visual eulogy to the Chinese master as they are an evocative picture of auspicious bird and trees. Asia

The authoritative record is held by Minneapolis Institute of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.