Licensing Resources
Kenkon Sōun (Heaven and Earth, Sweeping Away the Clouds)
1926-1975
2008.780
Not currently on view
Artwork Details
13-11/16 x 21-3/8 in.
PeriodSigned by artist: Shikō sha (Japanese characters) Elliptical relief seal: Hōgen Muna Shikō (Japanese characters) Vertically rectangular intaglio seal: [Mune (Muna)] (Japanese characters) Inscribed title: Kenkon Sōun
Accession NumberAnonymous Gift
CopyrightAsian Art (Japanese and Korean)
Color PaletteProvenance
Provenance
Private Collection, Osaka, Japan; Gabriel Eckenstein of (Bachmann Eckenstein Art & Antiques, Basel, Switzerland); Anonymous Donor, Indianapolis, Indiana; given to the Indianapolis Museum of Art in 2008.
Gallery Labels
Gallery Labels
乾坤掃雲
Cups, water vessels, and a pestle for grinding pigments are splashed with color. Munakata’s signature at the top and the painting’s title at the right and lower left are done in his characteristic bold calligraphy. One of the world’s greatest woodcut artists, Munakata was best known for his powerfully energetic prints. “Like the vastness of space, like a universe unlimited, untold, unattainable, and inscrutable—that is the woodcut,” he observed. Here, his brush conveys the expressive power of his prints but perhaps with a bit more freedom; one might imagine his brush as “sweeping away the clouds” to capture the vastness of heaven and earth.
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