painting;
screen
- Museum number
- 1972,0724,0.1
- Description
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Painting, six-panel screen. Spring view of Arashiyama: road alongside river, bounded at bank by stand of tall pine trees; mixed in with stand of pines, few cherry trees just past their peak; most of hillside sloping down to riverbank in haze and mist; another stand of pines, much lighter in tone, in upper right. Ink and colour on paper. Signed and sealed.
- Production date
- 19thC(early)
- Dimensions
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Height: 155 centimetres (screen)
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Height: 139.40 centimetres
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Width: 313 centimetres (screen)
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Width: 298.10 centimetres
- $Inscriptions
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- Curator's comments
- Hizo Nihon bijutsu taikan Vol 1
A road runs alongside a river, bounded at the bank by a stand of tall pine trees. Mixed in with the stand of pines are a few cherry trees just past their peak and rapidly losing their blossoms as their branches are buffeted by a damp, rainy wind. Most of the hillside, which slopes down nearly to the riverbank, is lost in a veil of haze and mist. Most of the six-fold painting is left blank; however, another stand of pines, much lighter in tone, appears to recede in the upper right. This spring view of Arashiyama (located in western Kyoto) exhibits the lightness and mood of a Shijo-school painting.
The artist, Matsumura Keibun (1779-1843), was the half-brother of the artist Matsumura Gekkei, who also went under the name of Matsumura Goshun. Keibun first studied art under this brother, who was twenty-seven years his senior. The elder, Goshun, had started out studying the "literati" style under Yosa Buson, later developing an interest in painting "directly from nature." His work showed a strong tendency toward literary lyricism. Keibun, one generation later, continued to develop the Shijo painting tradition, achieving a refined style, while imbuing his works with a delicate urban sensibility. He has left numerous masterpieces of bird-and-flower paintings - often focusing on blossoming plants; landscape paintings with a heightened sense of season such as this one also express his simplicity and restraint. In the left corner appear the signature "Keibun" and a pair of intaglio seals reading "Keibun" and "Tsuchimo [sic.]." "Tsuchimo [sic.]" was Keibun's 'azana', or familiar name.
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1972
- Department
- Asia
- Registration number
- 1972,0724,0.1
- Additional IDs
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Asia painting number: Jap.Ptg.Add.411 (Japanese Painting Additional Number)
