Jinshan Island and West Lake
Kano Sanraku Japanese
Not on view
Though united visually by an ink landscape of rugged mountains and islands among expanses of water and mists rendered in gold wash, this pair of screens depicts two wholly separate scenic locales in eastern China. At right is Jinshan, an island located in the middle of the Yangzi River near the town of Zhenjiang in southern Jiangsu province. The island’s many bridges, walkways, and paths are traversed by people from all walks of life—scholars, fisherman, and servants, among others—perhaps on their way to one of the temple halls scattered across the rugged terrain. The left screen meanwhile is a portrayal of West Lake, a storied site 150 miles south in the city of Hangzhou, whose city walls and gate can be seen in the lower-left foreground. Sanraku also incorporates into the landscape several of the Ten Views of West Lake, a set of poetic themes that first came into vogue in China during the twelfth century.
A student and adopted son of Momoyama-period master Kano Eitoku (1543–1590), Sanraku produced paintings for interiors of castles and temples, including other works depicting West Lake. Here rock formations display the crystalline, geometric quality that appears in much of his late work.
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