The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 21, 2025

Landscape

mid-1500s

Kano Motonobu

(Japanese, c. 1476–1559)
inscription by

calligraphy by Gesshū Jukei

(Japanese, 1470–1533)
Japan, Muromachi period (1392–1573)
Hanging scroll; ink on paper
Mounted: 104.7 x 48.9 cm (41 1/4 x 19 1/4 in.)
Gift from the Collection of George Gund III 2015.518
Location: Not on view

Description

The large red tripod-shaped seal on this painting is that of Kano Motonobu, head of the Kano school atelier in Kyoto that served the shogun. Gesshū Jukei, a longtime resident of the Zen temple Kenninji in Kyoto, inscribed the poem. The two are known to have worked together on at least one other occasion. The poem describes an intimate meeting of dear friends, a suitable theme for a work that was likely given as a gift to an esteemed associate, perhaps weary of the politics of life in the capital.

In either fine weather or
during the rainy season the
mountain’s color is pale.

A friend visits, rowing his
boat while reciting a poem.

Tonight we’ll drink
together at the inn on the river.

Across, on the other side of the
river is a house with people
living in it, but there
is nothing to drink there.
  • ?–2015
    George Gund III [1937–2013], bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    2015–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Kyōto National Museum. Muromachi jidai no Kanō-ha: gadan seiha e no michi: tokubetsu tenrankai 室町時代の狩野派 : 画壇制覇への道 : 特别展覧会 = The Kano school in the Muromachi period: special exhibition. [Kyoto]: Kyōto Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan, 1996. p. 209
    Cunningham, Michael R., Shinʼichi Miyajima, and Yūji Yamashita. Ink Paintings and Ash-Glazed Ceramics: Medieval Calligraphy, Painting, and Ceramic Art from Japan and Korea. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2000. p. 58
    Vilbar, Sinéad. “Acquisition Highlights 2016: Japanese Art.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 57, no. 2 (March/April 2017): 18–19. Reproduced and Mentioned: p. 18 archive.org
  • Reeds and Geese: Japanese Art from the Collection of George Gund III. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 21-September 3, 2017).
  • {{cite web|title=Landscape|url=false|author=Kano Motonobu, Gesshū Jukei|year=mid-1500s|access-date=21 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2015.518