Created by Tomioka Tessai in Japan during the Meiji era in 1906, this hanging scroll remained in Japanese private hands until it was sold at a Christie's auction on May 28, 1992. It was acquired by prominent collectors "Lawrence and Sonia Klein", who subsequently gifted it to the Freer Gallery of Art, part of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art.
Tomioka Tessai (1836–1924) stands as one of the most towering and transformative figures in modern Japanese art, recognized widely as the last great master of the Nanga (Southern School) or Bunjinga (literati) painting tradition. Emerging from the tumultuous transition between the Edo period and the Meiji restoration, Tessai uniquely bridged the gap between classical scholarly erudition and modern artistic expression. Unlike many of his contemporaries who eagerly absorbed Western styles, Tessai anchored his practice firmly in classical Chinese and Japanese philosophy, literature, and history. He viewed himself primarily as a scholar and Confucian intellectual, famously asserting that one must read ten thousand books and travel ten thousand miles to truly understand painting. His style evolved dramatically over his long career, discarding the delicate, heavily stylized conventions of traditional ink painting in favor of an intensely expressive, raw, and kinetic brushwork. Tessai’s bold, uninhibited use of dense black ink layers paired with sudden, vibrant splashes of color created landscapes that felt deeply alive and conceptually charged. It is precisely this convergence of historical reverence and avant-garde passion that defines his 1906 masterpiece, "Courtiers approaching Nakoso barrier, inscribed with a verse from the anthology Senzai wakashu", a work that brilliantly captures the scholar-artist's lifelong devotion to translating ancient literary sentiment into a dynamic visual landscape.
In "Courtiers approaching Nakoso barrier", Tessai masterfully transforms a classical literary allusion into a highly visceral pictorial narrative. The hanging scroll illustrates a famed poetic motif centered around the historic Nakoso barrier—a mountain pass traditionally associated with checking travelers and defending borders, but celebrated in classical poetry as a place of emotional reflection. Tessai structures the composition around a towering, compressed mountain path, forcing the viewer's eye to travel upward alongside the depicted courtiers as they navigate the rocky, winding ascent. The figures are rendered with expressive, calligraphic economy, capturing their deliberate movement toward the threshold. Above the landscape, Tessai balance the visual weight of the craggy cliffs with an elegant inscription featuring a verse from the Senzai wakashu (Collection of a Thousand Years of Waka Poetry). This inclusion of text directly mimics the traditional bunjinga philosophy, where painting, poetry, and calligraphy are considered an inseparable trinity. Tessai's handling of the brush in this piece is exceptionally confident; his dark, layered ink contours give the mountains an ancient, enduring solidity, while his light applications of color breathe seasonal atmosphere into the scene. By juxtaposing the rigid historical finality of the barrier with the fluid, transient motion of the travelers and the emotional resonance of the waka verse, Tessai creates a profound meditation on memory, poetry, and the landscape of the past, making the piece a brilliant example of Meiji-era scholarly revivalism.
This painting is a beautiful example of how art, poetry, and history can come together. The painting shows a group of courtiers travelling through a mountain path towards the famous Nakoso Barrier. Tessai uses strong brushstrokes and dark ink to create a sense of movement and depth, while soft colours add life and atmosphere to the landscape. The inclusion of a verse from the Senzai Wakashu strengthens the emotional and literary meaning of the work. The painting reflects themes of memory, travel, and reflection. Through this work, Tessai successfully revives classical Japanese traditions while expressing them in a powerful and personal artistic style.
