Chrysanthemum and Rock

Mochizuki Gyokusen 玉川 is the third generation of Mochizuki lineage, son of Gyokusen玉仙 (1744-1795) and father of Gyokusen 玉泉 (1834-1913). In his early years, he was known for working on the ninomaru court at Kanazawa Castle as Kishi Ganku’s pupil in 1809. Later he looked up to Matsumura Goshun (1752-1811) of Shijo School and added the bold naturalistic brush style to his own works.
In the present lot, Gyokusen filled up the space with the large, fully-blossomed chrysanthemum. White blooms elaborated with gofunand luxuriant green leaves protrude fearlessly from the naturalistically painted fences and rocks. Gyokusen employed silver leaves to represent the earth slopes (doha). It is not common to have large areas of silver leaf on a gold-leaf ground screen, and traditionally the use of silver leaf is meant for a night scene, usually with a moon in the picture. The silver earth slopes in the present work perhaps demonstrate the moonlight reflection, subtly suggesting a poetic scene of chysanthemum under the moon.