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Fragrant Garden under a Hazy Moon

1843
Not on view
In a garden of spring blossoms and mountain-shaped boulders, a group of gentlemen relax, converse, and accept wine and delicacies from youthful boy-attendants. Eroded ornamental garden rocks like those from Lake Tai identify the scene as taking place in China. A hazy moon hangs in the sky while bands of mist, rendered by unpainted areas of silk, obscure the far distance. The poetic title derives from an early, perhaps original, box inscription.

Nakabayashi Chikutō was born the son of a doctor in Nagoya, where he became the protégé of a well-to-do collector of Chinese paintings. He eventually moved to Kyoto with Yamamoto Baiitsu (1783–1856), and both became artists of the Nanga (Literati) school. In addition to painting, he designed images for woodblock-printed illustrated books and authored a number of painting treatises. This work, with its lively subject matter, is unusual for Chikutō, who often created tranquil landscapes in ink, with little, if any, human activity.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 中林竹洞筆 「芳園酔月」図
  • Title: Fragrant Garden under a Hazy Moon
  • Artist: Nakabayashi Chikutō (Japanese, 1776–1853)
  • Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
  • Date: 1843
  • Culture: Japan
  • Medium: Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
  • Dimensions: Image: 61 1/4 × 40 1/4 in. (155.5 × 102.3 cm)
    Overall with mounting: 85 7/16 × 50 3/8 in. (217 × 128 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection, Gift of Mary and Cheney Cowles, 2019
  • Object Number: 2019.420.31
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Sampling Tea beneath the Wu Trees, Nakabayashi Chikutō Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper, Japan
Sampling Tea beneath the Wu Trees
Nakabayashi Chikutō
1840
Mountain Stream on a Summer Day, Nakabayashi Chikutō Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink on paper, Japan
Mountain Stream on a Summer Day
Nakabayashi Chikutō
first half of the19th century
Landscape with Waterfall, Nakabayashi Chikutō Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink on paper, Japan
Landscape with Waterfall
Nakabayashi Chikutō
1841
Waterfall in Summer Mountains, Nakabayashi Chikutō Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk, Japan
Waterfall in Summer Mountains
Nakabayashi Chikutō
1821
Herons in the Snow, Nakabayashi Chikutō Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink on paper, Japan
Herons in the Snow
Nakabayashi Chikutō
ca. 1840

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