狩野探水守常筆　蓬莱山・瀟湘八景図|Mount Penglai with Eight Views of Xiao and Xiang

Kano Tansui Moritsune

19th century · One from a triptych of hanging scrolls; ink and color on silk · Asian Art

The center panel depicts the mystical mountain of Hōrai, the most popular of the auspicious symbols displayed on the New Year in Japan. Balanced on the back of a tortoise, a symbol of longevity, the isle supports other symbols of long life-a crane and pine tree-while plum flowers and the rising sun announce the coming of a new day in a new year. The two flanking panels depict imaginary Chinese landscapes that were inspired by the Chinese scenes in the Eight Views of Xiao and Xiang Rivers. To the right is a spring landscape and to the left, one of winter. The artist of these three panels, a Kano-trained artist, signed his age as sixty-seven. He had achieved the high position of Hokkyō (a Buddhist title granted to meritorious artists), yet his dates and life still remain unknown.

Artist

Kano Tansui Moritsune

Date

19th century

Medium

One from a triptych of hanging scrolls; ink and color on silk

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Charles Stewart Smith Collection, Gift of Mrs. Charles Stewart Smith, Charles Stewart Smith Jr., and Howard Caswell Smith, in memory of Charles Stewart Smith, 1914