Eight Views of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers
Not on view
A celebration of emotional responses to nature’s changing moods, the Eight Views theme was first developed in Chinese poetry and painting during the eleventh century. It was introduced to Japan in the fourteenth century, where it became a major subject of ink painting.
The bustling central image of this triptych represents “Mountain Market in Clearing Mist.” At left, a blustery atmosphere pervades “Sails Returning from a Distant Shore” and “Night Rain on the Xiao and Xiang Rivers,” while at right, in “Evening Glow on the Fishing Village,” the sunset envelops a river landscape, with fishing nets left to dry by the shore. The paintings may have been part of a complete series, and demonstrate the expansion in Japan of the Chinese album-leaf composition, which was associated with the aesthetic sensibilities of the elite military class and expressions of power.
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