Fragrant Orchids

This work uses shades of ink to depict orchids blooming in the lee of a rock. Orchids are commonly featured in Chinese literati painting together with bamboo and plum blossoms. They are fragrant flowers, and were used as a metaphor for people with excellent natural virtues. The literati were particularly fond of the motif of orchids blooming in obscurity behind mountain rocks. Gyokuen Bonpo served as chief priest at Kyoto’s Kenninji and Nanzen-ji temples. He admired the literati way of life and was a master orchid painter. The unconstrained, vigorous beauty of the ink lines lends the painting a charm distinct from works by professional painters. In China, scholar-artists known as [wenren] frequently painted orchids as symbols of virtue. The creator of this orchid painting, Gyokuen Bonpō (1348–after 1420), was a prominent Japanese Zen monk who adopted the lifestyle of a Chinese scholar-artist. He became famous for his flowing renditions of this delicate flower.

— Museum description: Tokyo National Museum (CC BY 4.0), via ColBase / Japan Search.