Loading

The Zen Patriarch Fengkan and Han-shan and She-de

Attributed to KANO Motonobu16th century

Fukuoka Art Museum

Fukuoka Art Museum
Fukuoka, Japan

The Chinese Tang dynasty monk Fengkan was known for his odd habit of riding a tiger to shock his fellow monks at the Guoching Temple. The monk Shide ("shee-duh") was a man who Fengkan discovered and brought to the temple, and who himself recruited poet-to-be Hanshan by giving him leftover rice. The right hand scroll of this pair shows Fengkan sitting on the back of his tiger, while the left shows Shide holding a broom as Hanshan smiles. Though there are many works of Zen ink painting showing these three characters, examples depicting them in a landscape background on a pair of scrolls are quite rare. These paintings have long been ascribed to Kano Motonobu(1476-1559), but the composition follows an older style related to folding screens painted with flowers and birds. The great tension found in this work demonstrates the strength of pictorial art in ink before the formulaic approach of the Kano school was developed.

Details

  • Title: The Zen Patriarch Fengkan and Han-shan and She-de
  • Creator: Attributed to KANO Motonobu
  • Date: 16th century
  • Physical Dimensions: w110.2 x h56 cm
  • Materials and Techniques (Japanese): 紙本墨画
  • Type: Painting
  • Medium: Ink on paper

Get the app

Explore museums and play with Art Transfer, Pocket Galleries, Art Selfie, and more

Flash this QR Code to get the app
Google apps