Preparatory sketch: Pavilion in the Mountain of the Immortals

Preparatory sketch on paper in black ink of a mountainous landscape. The imaginary landscape was a central theme within Chinese painting as early as the tenth century and was later taken up in Japan. For overworked scholars and officials the painting provided an idealised world where the mind could wander. Here, in the vastness of nature, a lone figure and his young assistant begin the long journey to the buildings high up in the mountains