四君子画譜 乾
A Meiji-era Japanese picture book of ink-painting models, titled 四君子画譜 (Shikunshi Gafu), painted and published by Inoue Katsugorō in 1884 for students learning the four noble plants: bamboo, orchid, chrysanthemum and plum. The pictures are woodblock prints of bamboo leaves, plum branches and twig studies in stark dark ink on cream paper, with the brushwork left visible, offering a designer strong linear silhouettes, sparse negative space and calligraphic line.
