The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 28, 2024

Seventy-two Peaks Against the Blue Sky

Seventy-two Peaks Against the Blue Sky

1785
(Japanese, 1752–1811)
Image: 51.5 x 275.2 cm (20 1/4 x 108 3/8 in.); Overall: 69.6 x 282.4 cm (27 3/8 x 111 3/16 in.); with frame: 72.9 x 285.7 cm (28 11/16 x 112 1/2 in.)
Location: not on view

Description

Unlike many painters of his generation, Goshun began his career with considerable social and economic advantage. Perhaps more significant, his upbringing and temperament helped foster his relationships with teachers, colleagues, and patrons. Apparently he moved with ease from the lively environment of the brothels in Kyoto’s entertainment district to the sedate sessions of poetry composition favored by the elite of Osaka and Kyoto. Whether writing haiku or executing paintings incorporating classical literary themes—Japanese as well as Chinese—his talent was recognized early and found abundant favor. Whether studying Chinese paintings themselves or imported painting manuals, or sketching the landscape around him, he gradually defined a more relaxed compositional structure for his work, one that at times almost becomes impressionistic, as in this small byøbu. The modest dimensions of this folding screen point to its use in the tea ceremony as a low partition in a small tearoom. Yet the scene focuses on the upper realm of an expansive imaginary Chinese landscape formed solely from a linear web of brushstrokes accentuated with groups of dots and small areas of ink washes. The lack of human figures serves to heighten the viewer’s sense of seeing the peaks of a tall mountain from high up in the air rather than from the more customary viewpoint of a traveler in a landscape. Goshun heightens the individuality of this setting and its format by painting on silver and gold foil, creating an alluring surface and deep space in this surprisingly spare vista. The overall effect is to create a sense of color in a painting in which none exists, apart perhaps from the brief, enigmatic inscription on the right panel giving this byøbu its title. Goshun’s acknowledged literary and visual sophistication during this period of his life is encapsulated quietly in this work, which contrasts with his large figural presentations, such as Scenes from Essays in Idleness.
  • ?-1980
    (Établissement des Beaux-Arts du Monde, Vaduz, Liechtenstein, ?-1980, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1980-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, 1980-present
  • Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1980.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 68, no. 6 (June 1981): 163–219. Mentioned: p. 218, no. 268; Reproduced: p. 210 www.jstor.org
    Cunningham, Michael R. “Byōbu: The Art of the Japanese Screen.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 71, no. 7 (September 1984): 223–232. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 226-227, fig. 6 www.jstor.org
    Cunningham, Michael R. Unfolding Beauty: Japanese Screens from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2001. Reproduced: pp. 58-59. cat. no. 26
    Admired from afar: masterworks of Japanese painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art [クリーブランド美術館展 : 名画でたどる日本の美 Kurīburando Bijutsukan ten: meiga de tadoru Nihon no bi ]. Tokyo: Tōkyō Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan, 2014. Reproduced: cat. no. 35, p. 116-117
  • Admired from Afar: Masterworks of Japanese Painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, Japan (January 15-February 23, 2014); Kyushu National Museum, Fukuoka, Japan (July 8-August 31, 2014).
    The Cleveland Museum of Art; Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 121; March 12, 2004 - July 13, 2004.
    Unfolding Beauty: Japanese Screens from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 15-September 16, 2001).
    Asian Autumn: Splendid Variety: 18th-Century Art in Japan. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 16, 1993-March 6, 1994).
    Byobu: The Art of the Japanese Screen. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 8, 1987-January 10, 1988).
    Byobu: The Art of the Japanese Screen. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (August 1-October 14, 1984).
    Year in Review: 1980. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (June 24-July 19, 1981).
  • {{cite web|title=Seventy-two Peaks Against the Blue Sky|url=false|author=Matsumura Goshun|year=1785|access-date=28 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1980.28