“The old wall-gazer’s form, seen from behind—a springtime of flowers.”¹

This abstract, nautilus-like form is a single-line drawing, or menpeki, of Daruma. Menpeki have been made since the Edo period, and there are several notable extant examples by Nantenbō, Shōun’s teacher. The gestural movement of the unbroken brushstroke is enhanced by the large areas of “flying white,” places where the brush’s dry bristles have allowed paper to remain visible within the brushstroke, conveying the speed of Shōun’s brush. The inscription, which appears on other works by the monk-painter, suggests that this spare silhouette conceals a vast and fertile world within Daruma, likening enlightenment to the dawn of spring and its blossoming flowers.

—Bradley Bailey