This old Japanese watercolor map somehow made me think of French theorist Jean Baudrillard, who invoked a map as large as the world itself as means of describing the loss of the "real" and progression to a hyperreality, where the map or model (the abstraction), once but no longer attached to actual terrain, is all that endures. This particular Japanese map (or simulation of a map!) describes a body of land I have not been able to identify (so am unsure if fact or fiction), and the (rather tantric-looking) symbols, too, seem perhaps but maybe not to have any meaning relative to the map! Most likely of course, it is my own ignorance that prevents me from contextualizing it, which itself is advances Baudrillard's point. Anyway, this very beautiful watercolor might prompt one to think about these things, or to work hard to connect it to an actual body of land, or just to enjoy the undeniably lovely colors and lines and shapes!
12 3/4" x 8 5/8", watercolor on washi paper, late 19th/early 20th century I would guess. Very good condition.
You might also like
