Suntory Museum of Art
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Collection
Notable Works
Poems from the New Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern (Shin Kokinshū) on a Scroll Decorated with Deer, Fragment

Notable Works

Paintings

Poems from the New Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern (Shin Kokinshū) on a Scroll Decorated with Deer, Fragment

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Artist: Hon'ami Koetsu/Tawaraya Sotatsu
Number of components: 1
Format and materials: Ink, gold and silver on paper
Dimensions (in cm): L. 33.7, W. 122.5
Date of production: Momoyama period First half of the 17th century

Originally, this was a long scroll of nearly 20 meters featuring 28 verses selected from the autumn poems in Book 4 of the Shin Kokinshū and brushed in the scattered writing calligraphy style, but after World War Ⅱ the scroll was cut into sections and passed into the possession of several families. The passing of time, from early morning to dusk on one day in autumn, is lyrically expressed by the application of gold and silver paint to the ground and mist. This work, which corresponds to the first half of the scroll, depicts the deer bedded down in a row that runs from top right to bottom left. Kōetsu has fluidly penned the poems around the deer to harmonize with the space.

Notable Works

Poems from the New Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern (Shin Kokinshū) on a Scroll Decorated with Deer, Fragment

SUNTORY MUSEUM of ART