Category: Fūryū

  • Itō Jakuchū: Potential for Flight

    Itō Jakuchū: Potential for Flight

    I am enraptured by Itō Jakuchū’s art. The stark contrast between the ink-black background and the bold use of color on the foreground is immediately striking, sure. But it’s more than that. The hues on Swallow and Camellia are not jump-at-you bright, but they are made dazzling nonetheless by graceful saturation. The crimson on the…

  • Fūryū of the Fisherman: Finding the Original Mind

    Fūryū of the Fisherman: Finding the Original Mind

    “Finding the Original Mind” is somewhat of an oxymoron – one cannot find what is never lost. And yet, the statement succinctly describes what fūryū is all about. But what is fūryū, you ask? According to Qiu (2001), the term fūryū first evolved in medieval Japan as a way to describe elegance, or a “penchant…