“The Deep Green of Summer Mountains”
In a Chinese-style landscape, the Literati painter Hine Taizan has meticulously depicted various goings-on of scholars and recluses amid a setting the artist has evocatively entitled “The Deep Green of Summer Mountains,” using the character sui 翠, which connotes the blue-green of kingfisher feathers. In the foreground two scholars have brought books and a qin (zither) to tête-à-tête outdoors upon a rocky outcrop along a mountain stream. Further upstream, amid a sprawling covered walkway along the water’s edge a solitary figure seems to be awaiting friends to appear. Partly hidden in the mountain recesses is a temple complex—symbol of leaving behind the secular world—while in the background are faraway peaks, representing a metaphysical immersion into a spiritual or philosophical realm.
Taizan was born in Hine village in Izumi province (present-day Izumi-sano City in Osaka), and arrived in Kyoto in 1837 at age 24, and remained active in the capital until his death at age 57 in 1869. Early on he studied with the Kano school painter Tōda Eiun 桃田英雲 in Osaka. Some sources say that Nukina Kaioku became his teacher of calligraphy and painting for a while. He also became acquainted with the merchant and scholar of classical Japanese literature Satoi Fukyu 里井浮丘 who lived in his hometown of Izumi. Fukyu had a large collection of paintings and calligraphy, and also through Fukyu was introduced to the important Nanga painter Okada Hankō, with whom he studied.
The silk wrapper in which the scroll painting is stored was inscribed by the literati painter-calligrapher Murata Kōkoku 村田香谷 (1831–1912) and dated 1906. Born in Fukuoka prefecture, Kokoku at an early age studied painting with Nukina Kaioku (1778–1863) and poetry with Yanagawa Seigan (1789–1858). He later travelled to Nagasaki to study Chinese-style painting, and specialized in ink landscapes, as well as poetry and calligraphy. Late in his career, he moved from Tokyo to Osaka. He was one of the artists who contributed to a collaborative painting of sixteen arhats dating to the mid-Meiji period now in The Met’s collection (2020.92).
Taizan was born in Hine village in Izumi province (present-day Izumi-sano City in Osaka), and arrived in Kyoto in 1837 at age 24, and remained active in the capital until his death at age 57 in 1869. Early on he studied with the Kano school painter Tōda Eiun 桃田英雲 in Osaka. Some sources say that Nukina Kaioku became his teacher of calligraphy and painting for a while. He also became acquainted with the merchant and scholar of classical Japanese literature Satoi Fukyu 里井浮丘 who lived in his hometown of Izumi. Fukyu had a large collection of paintings and calligraphy, and also through Fukyu was introduced to the important Nanga painter Okada Hankō, with whom he studied.
The silk wrapper in which the scroll painting is stored was inscribed by the literati painter-calligrapher Murata Kōkoku 村田香谷 (1831–1912) and dated 1906. Born in Fukuoka prefecture, Kokoku at an early age studied painting with Nukina Kaioku (1778–1863) and poetry with Yanagawa Seigan (1789–1858). He later travelled to Nagasaki to study Chinese-style painting, and specialized in ink landscapes, as well as poetry and calligraphy. Late in his career, he moved from Tokyo to Osaka. He was one of the artists who contributed to a collaborative painting of sixteen arhats dating to the mid-Meiji period now in The Met’s collection (2020.92).
Artwork Details
- 日根對山 「夏山深翠」 (Kazan shinsui)
- Title: “The Deep Green of Summer Mountains”
- Artist: Hine Taizan (Japanese, 1813–1869)
- Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
- Date: 1850s
- Culture: Japan
- Medium: Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
- Dimensions: Image: 65 7/8 × 32 3/8 in. (167.3 × 82.2 cm)
Overall with mounting: 87 1/2 × 41 5/8 in. (222.3 × 105.7 cm)
Overall with knobs: 87 1/2 × 45 5/8 in. (222.3 × 115.9 cm) - Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection, Gift of Mary and Cheney Cowles, 2020
- Object Number: 2020.396.41
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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