Hirai Baisen (1889–1969) 
Autumn 
Japan, early 1920s 
Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk 
Gift of Terry Welch, 2021 (2021-03-051)

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This painting was made at the height of Baisen’s influence. The heavy layering of color to build up the foliage and give volume to the mountain was one of the early innovations for which the artist was especially admired. The composition is bold, with a precipitous path rising diagonally from the foreground through the midground, along which two miniscule travelers make their way around the base of a vertical cliff. 
 
Baisen was a truly modern artist. He graduated from the Kyoto Municipal School of Arts and Crafts (a later name for the Kyoto Prefecture Painting School). Soon after he had a painting accepted for the first annual national exhibition, and from there his reputation skyrocketed. Even though it was standard for young artists to enter the studio of an experienced mentor after graduating from the public education system to build their career, Baisen remained independent, relying on the annual national exhibition to spread his fame. By the time he was thirty-five, he was appointed a juror. However, as Baisen’s success increased, so did tension with other artists and critics. He was a constant innovator and his experiments resulted in regular stylistic shifts, but by the 1930s his career started to wane. After WWII he continued to paint privately, but no longer participated in public exhibitions.