View of West Lake

mid- to late 17th century

Not on view

Several major Chan (Japanese: Zen) temples and other places with cultural and historical associations were located on West Lake, on the outskirts of China's Southern Song capital of Hangzhou. Even after the decline of the Song dynasty, the area around the lake remained a symbol of great cultural achievement. On this set of screens, West Lake appears in panorama, as if seen from an observation tower on the city wall along the bottom edge. Ten views of well-known sites in different seasons are distributed within the sweeping view. Kusumi Morikage, a disciple of Kano Tan’yū (1602–1672), official painter to the shogunate, is said to have left the Kano school for unknown reasons. This pair of screens is not dated, but its mild, clear features suggest that Morikage painted it early in his career, before developing his more idiosyncratic style.

Artwork Details

久隅守景筆　西湖図屏風
Title: View of West Lake
Artist: Kusumi Morikage (ca. 1620–1690)
Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
Date: mid- to late 17th century
Culture: Japan
Medium: Pair of six-panel folding screens; ink and color on paper
Dimensions: .1: 68 3/4 in. × 12 ft. 2 3/8 in. (174.6 × 371.8 cm)
.2: 69 in. × 12 ft. 2 3/8 in. (175.3 × 371.8 cm)
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1972
Object Number: 1972.179.1, .2
Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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