Artwork

Lanting Gathering in Blue and Green 青緑蘭亭脩禊図 (Seiryoku rantei shūkei zu)

Lanting Gathering in Blue and Green 青緑蘭亭脩禊図 (Seiryoku rantei shūkei zu) is an unspecified painting by the Nanga artist Kakoku Tsubaki. It dates from 1844 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

About this work

Overview

Lanting Gathering in Blue and Green, rendered in Japanese as 青緑蘭亭脩禊図 (Seiryoku rantei shūkei zu), is a painting completed in 1844 by the artist Kakoku Tsubaki. The work is part of the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where it is displayed among the museum’s holdings of East Asian art.

Subject & Meaning

The composition depicts the famed Lanting gathering, a celebrated literary and ritual event from Chinese tradition, reinterpreted through a palette dominated by blue and green hues. The scene conveys the cultural reverence for poetry, calligraphy, and communal rites that characterized the original 353 CE gathering.

Technique & Style

Executed in the traditional Chinese-inspired brushwork of the blue‑and‑green landscape genre, the painting employs mineral pigments to achieve its vivid coloration. Tsubaki’s handling of line and wash reflects the literati aesthetic, balancing detailed figural representation with atmospheric natural elements.

History & Provenance

Created in the mid‑nineteenth century, the piece entered the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection through acquisition in the early twentieth century. Documentation traces its ownership from the artist’s workshop to private collectors before its eventual donation to the museum, where it has remained since.

Context

The work emerges from a period when Japanese artists frequently engaged with Chinese literary themes, adapting them to local tastes. Tsubaki’s choice of the Lanting episode aligns with a broader East Asian fascination with the historic gathering, which served as a model for artistic depictions of scholarly camaraderie.