Four Admirers
Kano Tsunenobu Japanese
Not on view
One of the many pictorial subjects of Chinese origin adopted by the Kano school of painters, images of the Four Admirers portray beloved Chinese literary figures with the flower, and by extension the season, that each admired most. In this painting by Tsunenobu, a second-generation head of the Kano school’s Kobikichō branch in Edo (now Tokyo), the four literary heroes appear within a single pictorial space replete with seasonal, historical, and literary allusions.
At far right is the poet Lin Hejing (967–1028), known for admiring plum blossoms at the hermitage he shared with pet cranes. Nearby is Tao Yuanming (365–427), who famously wrote of gathering chrysanthemums at his country estate in autumn. The scholar Zhou Maoshu (1017–1073) relaxes on a boat surrounded by lotuses. At far left, Huang Tingjian (1045–1105) sits on the riverbank with a potted orchid at his side.
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