Chrysanthemums and Rock

Late blooming chrysanthemums, which often remain in flower during the first snowfalls of winter, are symbols of fortitude and resoluteness, and were a favorite subject for literati painters like Ike (née Tokuyama) Gyokuran and her husband, Ike Taiga. Her use of an angled brush—sometimes wet, sometimes very dry—captures the rough texture of an eroded rock, over which towers a chrysanthemum plant with three dramatic blossoms. The animated, well-balanced composition and abundance of curvilinear forms are characteristic of Gyokuran’s singular painting style.