塩川文麟筆 登峨眉山図屏風|The Poet Li Bo's Visit to Mount Emei

Shiokawa Bunrin

1875 · Pair of six-panel folding screens; ink and gold on paper · Asian Art

Watery ink and small gold flecks sprinkled among valleys and mist create a luminous night scene under a hazy moon. The gentleman riding in the boat on the right screen is the famous Chinese poet Li Bo (701–762), who was inspired by moonlit Mount Emei Sichuan to compose a poem. Four years later, he returned to the area and composed a longer poem. In Japan, the two poems became particularly famous. Shiokawa Bunrin’s training was in the realist school of Shijō, but he was also familiar with the aesthetics of other artistic circles, especially the literati painters. These screens demonstrate Bunrin’s knowledge of Western perspective, especially in his treatment of the valley stream.

Artist

Shiokawa Bunrin

Date

1875

Medium

Pair of six-panel folding screens; ink and gold on paper

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Purchase, Friends of Asian Art Gifts, 1998