Calligraphy “Banzai” (万歳) painted pine branch with sapling | Matsumura Goshun 松村呉春 | 1752-1811

Matsumura Goshun occupies a very important place in Japanese art history. He was a student and later a collaborator of the outstanding painter Maruyama Ōkyō (1733-1795). Together with him, he founded the Shijō School in Kyoto, which shaped the aesthetics of painting in the old imperial capital throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. Goshun is primarily known as a painter, but good painters were usually also excellent calligraphers.

This calligraphy consists of the characters for "Banzai" ("long live"). The upper character means "ten thousand" and the lower "year(s)." Goshun also paints a small pine sapling. It has some soft, newly sprouting shoots at the top, meaning "future potential," as the pine is an ancient symbol of "long life." Goshun now translates this real pine branch, with its prickly needles at the bottom and its fluffy young twigs, into calligraphy: He paints the upper character for "ten thousand" with a noticeably watery brush to create fluffy contours, and he writes the character for "years" with thin strokes that evoke pine needles. He also places the two characters in the lower half of the format, leaving the upper half empty to further suggest "future" with this emptiness.

Another wonderful detail is the signature and seal. It is not placed at the left edge of the picture as usual, but is lovingly framed by the calligraphy and the pine sapling.

The mount is authentic from the Goshun period and is in very good condition.