Noh Scene: Takasago

Noh Scene: Takasago

Kamisaka Sekka, 1920s

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Artist: Kamisaka Sekka (Japanese, 1866–1942)
Medium: Hanging scroll, ink and color on silk
Size: 55 11/16 × 19 7/8 in. (141.45 × 50.48 cm) (image); 80 3/16 × 25 7/8 in. (203.68 × 65.72 cm) (without roller)
Museum: Minneapolis Institute of Art
Rights: Public Domain Mark

The Takasago story, an old folktale adapted into a popular Noh play, tells of two ancient pines, personified by an old couple. One lives in Takasago and the other in Sumiyoshi. A Shinto priest meets the pair and learns that each night, in a show of fidelity, the old man in Sumiyoshi visits his wife in Takasago, despite the great distance. Here, Kamisaka Sekka posed the old couple beneath a stylized pine tree, rendered using the puddle-ink (tarashikomi) technique, in which a second layer of ink is applied before the first has dried, creating a puddled look.

Text: Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia), CC BY 4.0.

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