Landscapes of the Four Seasons

1848

Not on view

These sensitively rendered ink paintings transcend conventional literati imagery of Chinese‑style seasonal landscapes to create an expression of a more individual, moody statement of the artist in nature. One may read the lone figure in each scroll as a representation of the artist himself presented in the mode of a Chinese sage; the artist did actually play the traverse flute, the instrument of the boatman in the autumn scene. All four of the scrolls in this set are integrated not only by connecting seasonal moods but also by a unifying elevated point of view. Baiitsu is best known for his meticulous and unfailingly elegant polychrome bird-and-flower paintings, perhaps learned while studying as a youth under the Shijō-school painter Chō Gesshō (1770–1832). This set of paintings reveals a relatively unstudied dimension of Baiitsu’s work.

Artwork Details

山本梅逸筆　四季山水図
Title: Landscapes of the Four Seasons
Artist: Yamamoto Baiitsu (Japanese, 1783–1856)
Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
Date: 1848
Culture: Japan
Medium: Set of four hanging scrolls; ink and color on silk
Dimensions: Image (a): 40 3/8 × 13 7/8 in. (102.6 × 35.2 cm)
Overall with mounting (a): 75 1/16 × 19 3/4 in. (190.7 × 50.1 cm)
Overall with knobs (a): 75 1/16 × 21 5/8 in. (190.7 × 55 cm)
Image (b): 40 3/8 × 13 7/8 in. (102.6 × 35.3 cm)
Overall with mounting (b): 75 1/4 × 19 11/16 in. (191.2 × 50 cm)
Overall with knobs (b): 75 1/4 × 21 11/16 in. (191.2 × 55.1 cm)
Image (c): 40 7/16 × 13 7/8 in. (102.7 × 35.3 cm)
Overall with mounting (c): 75 1/16 × 19 3/4 in. (190.6 × 50.1 cm)
Overall with knobs (c): 75 1/16 × 21 3/4 in. (190.6 × 55.3 cm)
Image (d): 40 1/2 × 13 15/16 in. (102.8 × 35.4 cm)
Overall with mounting (d): 75 3/8 × 19 11/16 in. (191.5 × 50 cm)
Overall with knobs (d): 75 3/8 × 21 11/16 in. (191.5 × 55.1 cm)
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015
Object Number: 2015.300.190a–d
Curatorial Department: Asian Art

More Artwork

By Yamamoto Baiitsu

In the same medium

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Plum Blossoms, Yamamoto Baiitsu Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink on silk, Japan — Plum Blossoms
Yamamoto Baiitsu
dated 1851

Peaches, Pomegranate, and Fingered Citron, Yamamoto Baiitsu Japanese, Folding fan; ink and color on paper, Japan — Peaches, Pomegranate, and Fingered Citron
Yamamoto Baiitsu
1832

"Refined Elegance in the Four Seasons" (Shiji seiga), Album of Flower Paintings, Yamamoto Baiitsu Japanese, Album of twelve leaves; ink on paper, Japan — "Refined Elegance in the Four Seasons" (Shiji seiga), Album of Flower Paintings
Yamamoto Baiitsu
1844

Wild Hawk on a Tree, Yamamoto Baiitsu Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink on satin, Japan — Wild Hawk on a Tree
Yamamoto Baiitsu
1838

Insects and Grasses, Yamamoto Baiitsu Japanese, Handscroll; ink and color on silk, Japan — Insects and Grasses
Yamamoto Baiitsu
dated 1847

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