Landscape

Chikuto painted this scene of two men seated at the edge of a mountain lake in the spirit of earlier Chinese scholar-painters. His study of their technique is evident in the use of short, repeated horizontal strokes of wet ink to define the rock surfaces and foliage. Dotting the hills and the shoreline are clusters of small square blocks, a compositional element that is Chikuto’s visual trademark. By varying his ink tones he produces an effect of shimmering light, enhanced by the bright, blank areas reserved for water, mist, and sky.

Above the distant peaks at left Chikuto inscribed a four-line Chinese poem:
Beyond the water, mountains are high.
Near the stream old trees enclose the mist.
One leisurely old man receives another,
And they enjoy flocking geese.

The son of a doctor, Chikuto began studying painting at age fourteen. Early on, he had the opportunity to study original works by Chinese painters at the home of the wealthy Nagoya merchant and collector, Kamiya Tenyu (1710–1802). Later he joined a circle of prominent Confucian scholars, poets, and painters in Kyoto, becoming one of the most celebrated literati artists of his time.