View publication (pdf file 6.5 mb) - Erik Thomsen

14Mochizuki Gyokusen 望 月 玉 泉(1834 –1913)WaterfallMeiji Period (1868 –1912), circa 1900H 65 ½" × W 22 ½" (incl. mounting 92 ¾" × 28 ¼")(166.3 cm × 56.4 cm, 235.5 cm × 71.8 cm)Hanging scroll, ink and silver on silkSignature: »painted by Gyokusen« 玉 泉 写Seal: Shiseikan 資 清 館A thunderous waterfall crashes down onto rocksin this masterful display of natural forces. An encyclopedicarray of ink techniques come togetherto create a powerful, yet poetic evocation of a massivewaterfall in action. Through the mist, sprayand streams, we see here all the permutations ofa waterfall in one great image.Gyokusen uses the tarashikomi technique of drippingink into wet ink, creating a mottled effect onthe rocks. He sprays tiny ink droplets on the silksurface and paints water splashes to portray theviolent energy of water crashing onto sheer rock.His use of fine silver droplets to simulate glisteningwater mist in the sunlight is rare and striking. Bygradually shrouding details in mist as one goesdown the waterfall, the artist has generated a clearcontrast between the darkly-modulated and cleardetails at the top of the paining and the misty graysa the bottom of the fall, heightening the narrativeof a waterfall in action.Gyokusen’s painting reflects a clear interest in realism.We also see his interest in earlier Japanesepaintings as his work follows a tradition of monumentalwaterfalls by Maruyama Ōkyo. 1 The intenthere was to create the feeling of a real waterfall,which, when hanging in the tokonoma alcove, appearsto come crashing down, the four walls ofthe small room now sheer cliffs and the water rushingdown onto the tatami floor. Just as in the earlierversions by Ōkyo, Gyokusen emphasizes this surrealscene in a small room by the oversized formatof the painting, almost 8 feet in length. 2Gyokusen was born in Kyoto and became the fourthgeneration Mochizuki painter, after taking overfrom his father Gyokusen 望 月 玉 川 (and eventuallyhanding it on to his own son Muchizuki Gyokkei望 月 玉 渓 ). Taught by his father, he took over thefamily workshop and became the appointed courtpainter for the imperial house. He became a leadingfigure of the Meiji-period Kyoto art scene, andtogether with Kōno Bairei 幸 野 梅 嶺 he founded theKyoto Prefectural Art School 京 都 府 画 学 校 in 1878.He was active in foreign exhibitions and won theBronze Medal at the International Paris Expositionin 1889. In his old age, he received numerousnational prizes and honors and retained his closeconnection to the imperial house. 364