The Japanese art of sumi-e, charcoal ink painting, explores the infinite range of shades between black and white by dissolving sumi (charcoal) ink with differing amounts of water and by painting with a wide variety of brushes. Artists of the Edo period expanded the styles and subjects of sumi-e by experimenting with a broad range of techniques, pushing ink painting toward minimalism and abstraction—techniques that today we refer to as “modern.”
The artist who painted these horses, Soga Shōhaku, was such an accomplished painter that he could depict individual personalities for each horse with a minimal number of brushstrokes while also expressing his own personality. If you look closely, you can see Shōhaku is not painting the horses so much as outlining them. You can also see that many of his brushstrokes are essentially abstract while still managing to suggest a horse’s mane or forelegs. Shōhaku makes it look effortless, but this level of brushwork—displaying a consummate command of water, sumi ink, and brush—requires years of training and experience.
