堂本印象筆　「秌爽清観」|Clear View on a Crisp Autumn Day

Dōmoto Inshō

1924 · Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk · Asian Art

This colorful "Chinese" landscape with figures depicts a boat being poled away from a walled residence set within a grove of trees. Color washes in shades of green, blue, and brown enliven the image. Layers of rolling hills and mountains, separated from one another by mist, create a recession into distance. An arched bridge between the middle and distant ground is the only other architectural structure. A member of the Imperial Art Academy and recipient of Japan’s Order of Culture award in 1961, with a museum—the Inshō Dōmoto Art Museum in Kyoto— dedicated to his work, Inshō may be best known for the many sliding door screen paintings and ceiling paintings he created for Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines. He also designed fabrics, having begun his artistic career with training in craft design, and established a school for painting. Dōmoto’s paintings range from the idealistic realism of Nihonga to compositions with bright colors and geometric forms influenced by Western abstract expressionism.

Artist

Dōmoto Inshō

Date

1924

Medium

Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection, Gift of Mary and Cheney Cowles, 2019