805
INOUE YUICHI ( 1916 - 1985 )
Members only
ink on Japanese paper hanging scroll 1980
titled, stamped signature and signed
CR80081
authentication seal by Unagami Masaomi affixed to the reverse
The inscription on this work is a poem composed by Mugaku Sogen, a Chinese Zen monk of the Song Dynasty.
Provenance: A Gallery in Kamakura
Publication: "Yu-ichi INOUE catalogue Vol.3" P.319, CR80081, UNAC TOKYO
This poem was composed by Mugaku Sogen, a distinguished Zen master of the Southern Song dynasty, and reflects the Zen understanding of emptiness and liberation.
The line "Throughout heaven and earth there is not a piece of ground where a single stick could be inserted" symbolizes the wandering ascetic with no fixed abode.
The phrase "I am glad that all things are void, myself and the world" expresses the joy of awakening to the emptiness of both self and Dharma.
The "three-foot sword wielded by the great Yuan swordsmen" represents sharp wisdom.
With this sword, the poet "cuts a spring breeze in a flash of lightning"—a metaphor for severing delusions and seductive illusions in an instant.
The final line, "cutting a spring breeze in a flash of lightning," has become a well-known phrase in the Zen tradition.
INOUE YUICHI, born in Tokyo in 1916, is an artist who represents Japan in the late 20th century. He is often remembered as a wild and uninhibited figure, with his shaved head, wielding a giant brush, splashing ink, crawling and rolling on the ground, as if no one else existed. "He was a simple schoolteacher by day and an avant-garde artist at home," is how those who knew him described him. While the rest of Japan was indulging in rapid economic growth, he remained obscure, grounded, and genuine, and eventually honed himself into an artist who came to represent Japan and left his mark on the history of world art.
142.0×194.0cm
(55 ⅞ × 76 ⅜ in.)
2025/10/23
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