MURA · THE COLLECTION

Japanese Calm

A branch of red blossom reaches across a mountain lake under a large red sun, in black ink and one colour on aged paper, with a few strokes of gold in the clouds. Mountains in grey wash, water in a single reflection, petals falling. It is painted in the manner of East Asian ink landscape.

Mura Studio · 2026 · Painted texture · Contemporary · story written 25 September 2026

What is going on

The picture uses the oldest grammar of the landscape: an empty foreground of water, mountains in receding tones of grey, a sun that is a flat red disc, and a branch that enters from the corner to give the eye a way in. The blossom is the only thing painted with a full brush; the rest is wash and paper. The gold in the clouds is a small luxury.

How to look at it

Start at the branch and follow it from the thick black trunk at the left edge to the last petal falling over the water. Then look at the sun, which is not behind the mountain but in front of the sky and level with the peak, so that it reads as a shape on the paper rather than a light in the world. The paper itself is stained and streaked, and the streaks are part of the picture.

Why it is in Mura

It hangs on its own in the Studio, mood calm, as a bridge to the Japanese prints in the museum collection. On a television it is the most restful image Mura has, and it is the one to leave on when the room needs to be still.