Mount Horai

Near the top of the tall scroll a small vermilion sun floats above overlapping blue and green mountains. Partway up the slope a building like a pavilion can be seen, and at the foot of the mountain flat fields and a flowing stream spread out. A red bridge crosses the foreground, and a large pine reaches in from the edge of the picture.

According to the museum's commentary, Mount Horai is a legendary mountain in China, regarded as a land of eternal life where immortals live, and a subject painted since ancient times in both China and Japan. Keisen was known for unconventional literati painting, and here too he is said to have painted an imaginary place with a free imagination.

The composition is divided into distant, middle, and near views. The commentary explains that the distant view shows an old temple partway up a mountain, the middle view gentle fields and a river, and the near view ascetics talking on a bridge as they head for the temple. Though the scene is imaginary, the flowing river in the foreground and the handling of the space that draws the eye into the distance are said to show a sure skill grounded in the real world.

Keisen was born in Hakata, Fukuoka, studied in Kyoto, and was active in the Inten exhibitions. This work is a hanging scroll in color on silk, 132.0 cm high and 36.5 cm wide.