Mount Horai

Discussion

FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

In this print, Kosetsu Ogino pays sly homage to the Rimpa school and its traditional founder, Ogata Korin, by depicting a rock with the tarashikomi technique often used by Korin and his followers. This technique consists of dripping pigments into liquid paint or water, creating blurry outlines and unevenly mixed colors, and it came to symbolize the members of the Rimpa school. Here Kosetsu cleverly parodied the common New Year motif Horai (the immortals’ island) by substituting a moss brown rock for the island and a branch of a nandina plant for the lofty pine tree. Kosetsu was a poet and print designer during the late Edo and early Meiji periods. He also contributed to this collection of poems; his piece is the fifth from the right.

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