Autumn at Aeryeonjeong

A pavilion stands beside a pond. Trees turning to autumn colors wear green, yellow, and red together. The tiled roof sinks into deep shade, and the pond receives all those colors upside down.

There are many colors in the painting. Red, green, yellow. The young painter knew splendor, and knew how to paint it.

But in later years he sets down these many colors, one by one. What remains after splendor is abandoned? The answer is not yet reflected in this pond.

This painting says only this: only someone who knows how to let go has had something to let go of.

Much later, the answer returns as a single color: the color of dried grass.