Landscape with a Castle

Gaho learnt painting from his father, Osakuni Hashimoto, and when he was twelve years old, he began studying under Tadanobu Shosenin Kano in Kobikicho. With a fellow student, Hogai Kano, he received instruction from Ernest Fenollosa and Tenshin Okakura. Based on studies of traditional Japanese art, he also incorporated Western painting techniques, leaving fine works. Gaho worked hard to teach younger artists such as Taikan Yokoyama and Shunso Hishida.

This long river is the Yangtze River in China. There are people watching the fishing boats from a lookout overhanging the river. The way the trees and gazebo in the foreground are depicted in briskly modulated lines and adroit shades of sumi demonstrates Gaho’s definite technique and refined style as a prodigy of the Kano school. While working at the military dormitory of the Naval Department, Gaho got interested in Western oil painting, too. He commented, “Western painting should not be applied as is to Japanese painting but taken in having mastered the essence.” In this work, too, the landscape in the distance and the trees are portrayed in a way similar to how light and atmosphere are captured in Western painting. This work was the first example of modern art to be designated a tangible cultural asset by the prefecture of Saitama in 1991.