The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 23, 2025

Mountain View and Blue Water

early 1800s

Tanomura Chikuden

(Japanese, 1777–1835)
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
hanging scroll; ink, color, and gold on paper
Painting: 174.9 x 46.8 cm (68 7/8 x 18 7/16 in.); Mounted: 217.5 x 61.5 cm (85 5/8 x 24 3/16 in.)
The Kelvin Smith Collection, given by Mrs. Kelvin Smith 1985.250
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

The mountain shapes are built up with multiple small wet strokes.

Description

Tanomura Chikuden was an eminent painter whose adopted son, Tanomura Chokunyū (1814–1907), was Seifū Yohei III’s painting teacher. This work was displayed at a gathering commemorating the 10th anniversary of Chokunyū’s death, something we know only because its custom-made box and archival documents have been carefully kept together. The box inscription also confirms that Chikuden was emulating the style of the Mi family of painters, active during China’s Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279). The painting’s Chinese-style silk wrapper is inscribed and sealed on its interior by members of Chokunyū’s community.
  • ?–1975
    (Shogoro Yabumoto, Amagasaki, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, sold to Mr. and Mrs. Kelvin Smith)
    1975–1985
    The Kelvin Smith Collection, Cleveland, OH, given by Mrs. Kelvin [Eleanor Armstrong] Smith [1899–1998] to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1985–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Kokka 國華 plates, JPVII, (1918) vol. 28. pl. 7. no. 332. Reproduced
    Okada Saburōsuke 岡田三郎助, Rinpū Sasagawa 笹川臨風, and Yoneame Iizuka 飯塚米雨,. Nihonga taisei 日本畫大成. Tōkyō: Tōhō Shoin 東方書院, 1931–34. Reproduced: vol. 11, pt. 3, pl. 104
    Nanga Meisaku-Ten: Nippon No Bunjinga 南画名作展日本の文人画. Tokyo: Nippon keizai shim-bun, 1971. Reproduced: pl. 59
    Nippon Bijutsu Kaiga Zenshu [Complete Collection of Japanese Paintings]. vol. 21. Tokyo: Shueisha, 1980. Reproduced: pl. 27
    “Checklist of the Kelvin Smith Bequest.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 75, no. 7 (September 1988): 292–295. Mentioned: p. 294 www.jstor.org
    Lee, Sherman E. “A. Kelvin Smith (1899-1984): Collector.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 75, no. 7 (September 1988): 240–243. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 241 www.jstor.org
    Grossman, Nancy, James T. Ulak, Marjorie Williams, and Laurence Channing. Art of Japan: Masterpieces from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2005. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 101
  • Colors of Kyoto: The Seifū Yohei Ceramic Studio. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 19, 2023-March 10, 2024).
    Asian Autumn: Masterpieces from the Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 17, 1991-January 5, 1992).
    A Private World: Japanese and Chinese Art from the Kelvin Smith Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 14-November 13, 1988).
    Nihon no Bunjinga. Kobe Sannomiya Department Store, Kobe, Japan (March 5–17, 1971).
  • {{cite web|title=Mountain View and Blue Water|url=false|author=Tanomura Chikuden|year=early 1800s|access-date=23 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1985.250