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Poems and Pictures of the Eight Views of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers

Unkoku Togan1605–12

The Cleveland Museum of Art

The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States

Works on the theme of the Eight Views of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers existed in China as early as the late eleventh century. This Japanese treatment of the subject features poems by the Chinese monk Yujian Ruofen, who was active in the late 13th century. It also emulates Yujian’s splashed-ink mode to create highly abstracted landscapes evoking misty settings.

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  • Title: Poems and Pictures of the Eight Views of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers
  • Creator: Unkoku Tōgan (Japanese, 1547-1618), Inkei Gentetsu (Japanese, 1562-1612)
  • Date Created: 1605–12
  • Physical Dimensions: 40.3 x 657.8 cm (15 7/8 x 259 in.)
  • Provenance: Mōri family, Yamaguchi, Japan, (London Gallery, Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Type: Painting
  • Rights: CC0
  • External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/2020.258
  • Medium: Handscroll; ink on paper
  • Original Title: 瀟湘八景詩画巻
  • Inscriptions: Each painting sealed with red gourd-shaped seal reading Unkoku (雲谷) and a square seal reading Tōgan (等顔)., Each painting prefaced with a titled poem on the Eight Views of Xiao-Xiang by Yujian Ruofen (active late 13th century) inscribed by Japanese Buddhist monk Inkei Gentetsu (1562–1612)., 右寫玉㵎之筆勢/雪舟末葉等顔筆
  • Fun Fact: The “Tō” of Tōgan comes from the name of painter Sesshū Tōyō (1420–1506).
  • Department: Japanese Art
  • Culture: Japan, Momoyama period (1573-1615)
  • Credit Line: Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund
  • Collection: ASIAN - Handscroll
  • Accession Number: 2020.258
The Cleveland Museum of Art

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