The
Zen Patriarchs Fengkan, Hanshan and Shide
Attributed to KANO Motonobu
(1476-1559)
Japan, 16th century
pair of hanging scrolls
H.56.0 cm, W.110.5 cm |
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| The Chinese Tang dynasty
monk Fengkan was known for his odd habit of riding a tiger to
shock his fellow monks at the Guoching Temple. The monk Shide
("shee-duh") was a man who Fengkan discovered and brought to
the temple, and who himself recruited poet-to-be Hanshan by
giving him leftover rice. The right hand scroll of this pair
shows Fengkan sitting on the back of his tiger, while the left
shows Shide holding a broom as Hanshan smiles. Though there
are many works of Zen ink painting showing these three characters,
examples depicting them in a landscape background on a pair
of scrolls are quite rare. These paintings have long been ascribed
to Kano Motonobu(1476-1559), but the composition follows an
older style related to folding screens painted with flowers
and birds. The great tension found in this work demonstrates
the strength of pictorial art in ink before the formulaic approach
of the Kano school was developed. |
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