Japanese Zen monks treasured pictures of gibbons painted by the Chinese monk-painter Muqi (active ca. 1250–80), which Muqi’s colleagues first carried to Japan in the late thirteenth century. By the late fifteenth century, images of the animals in the manner of Muqi had become a favored subject for large-scale painting programs.
In this pair of screens, showing a uniquely Japanese interpretation of Muqi’s style, a chain of gibbons tries to grasp the reflection of the moon in the water below—a futile effort that in Zen signifies the delusions of the unawakened mind. Sesson, a learned and prolific Zen monk-artist, studied a wide array of earlier Chinese ink styles and played a major role in the development of a distinctive Japanese form of Zen-inspired ink painting.
This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.
right screen, .1, overall
left screen, .2, overall
right screen, .1, right two panels
right screen, .1, middle two panels
right screen, .1, left two panels
left screen, .2, right two panels
left screen, .2, center two panels
right screen, .1, left two panels
detail
Artwork Details
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Title:Gibbons in a Landscape
Artist:Sesson Shūkei 雪村周継 (ca. 1504–ca. 1589)
Period:Muromachi period (1392–1573)
Date:ca. 1570
Culture:Japan
Medium:Pair of six-panel screens; ink on paper
Dimensions:Image (each screen): 62 in. x 11 ft. 5 in. (157.5 x 348 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Purchase, Rogers Fund and The Vincent Astor Foundation, Mary Livingston Griggs and Mary Griggs Burke Foundation, and Florence and Herbert Irving Gifts, 1992
Object Number:1992.8.1, .2
Private collection (sale; Christie's, NY, Oct. 24, 1991, Lot. 852, sold to Naumann); [ Klaus F. Naumann , Tokyo, until 1992; sold to MMA]
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Arts of Japan," November 5, 1991–December 15, 1992.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Tea Ceremony Wares of Mino: Shino and Oribe," 1992.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Art in Early Japan," 1999–2000.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Blossoms of Many Colors: A Selection from the Permanent Collection of Japanese Art," March 21–August 9, 2000.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Enlightening Pursuits," February 28–August 5, 2001.
Chiba City Museum of Art. "Sesson ten: sengoku jidai no sūpā ekisentorikku," January 26, 2002–March 3, 2002.
Tokyo. The Shoto Museum of Art. "Sesson ten: sengoku jidai no sūpā ekisentorikku," April 2, 2002–May 12, 2002.
Yamaguchi Prefectural Museum of Art. "Sesson ten: sengoku jidai no sūpā ekisentorikku," June 18, 2002–July 28, 2002.
Fukushima Prefectural Museum of Art. "Sesson ten: sengoku jidai no sūpā ekisentorikku," August 10, 2002–September 23, 2002.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Great Waves: Chinese Themes in the Arts of Korea and Japan II," March 22–September 21, 2003.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Birds, Flowers, and Buddhist Paradise Imagery in Japanese Art," February 14–June 13, 2004.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Masterpieces from the Permanent Collection," July 2–November 29, 2005.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Graceful Gestures: Two Decades of Collecting Japanese Art," 2007.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "A Drama of Eyes and Hands: Sharaku's Portraits of Kabuki Actors," September 20, 2007–March 24, 2008.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Philippe de Montebello Years: Curators Celebrate Three Decades of Acquisitions," October 24, 2008–February 1, 2009.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Landscapes in Japanese Art," June 24–November 7, 2010.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Celebrating the Arts of Japan: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection," October 20, 2015–May 14, 2017.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Japan: A History of Style," March 8, 2021–April 24, 2022.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. Recent Acquisitions: A Selection 1991–1992. n.s., Vol. 50, no. 2 (fall 1992), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, pp. 90–91.
Burn, Barbara, ed. Masterpieces of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1993, p. 189.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, ed. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2012, p. 104.
Behrendt, Kurt. How to Read Buddhist Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2019, pp. 86–87, figs. 62, 63.
Uto Gyoshi (Japanese, active second half of 16th century)
mid- to late 16th century
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