Ono no Komachi Washing the Copybook

This print refers to the story in which poet Ono no Komachi washes a copy of an ancient text in order to disrupt a rival’s efforts to defame her. The work is a color print that does not use black ink for the outlines, also known as a water picture or a mizu-e. Mizu-e were particularly popular in Japan in the 1760s. This print was once in the private collection of architect Frank Lloyd Wright, who sold it to Art Institute benefactor Kate Buckingham in 1915.
The poem in the banner reads:

No one sows them—
From what seed are they?
The floating grasses
Flourishing profusely
Amid the rippling waves.

(Translated by Felice Fischer)