松村呉春筆　渓山探薬図|Herb Gatherer in the Mountains

Matsumura Goshun 松村呉春

ca. after 1780 · Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk · Asian Art

A gray-bearded man rides his horse on a rocky mountain path alongside a stream, passing a bed of fallen red leaves and a bare tree draped with ivy. He is on a quest for the herb of immortality. The eldest son of an affluent family of mint officials in Kyoto, Go Shun began his career as a painter and haiku poet under the guidance of the renowned practitioner Yosa Buson (1716–1783)—whose stylistic influence is particularly evident in this example. Go Shun emerged as a prominent artist in his own right, founding the influential Shijō school in Kyoto. When writing Japanese poetry or painting Japanese-style compositions, he worked under the name Matsumura Gekkei.

Artist

Matsumura Goshun 松村呉春

Date

ca. after 1780

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, 2022