列子御風図扇面 (Resshi gyofū zu senmen)|The Daoist Immortal Liezi Flying on a Cloud

The work titled 列子御風図扇面 (Resshi gyofū zu senmen) | The Daoist Immortal Liezi Flying on a Cloud was produced in 1544 by the Japanese painter Kano Yukinobu. Executed in ink on paper as a fan-shaped painting, it was later mounted as a hanging scroll. The painting depicts a man in a mythological scene and measures 21 cm by 52 cm. It was created in Japan and entered the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it remains on view. No documentation of a specific commission survives.

The fan-shaped painting The Daoist Immortal Liezi Flying on a Cloud by Kano Yukinobu is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. While the work is dated to 1544, the provided sources do not specify a unique inventory or accession number for this piece. Additionally, the available documentation contains no record of specific exhibitions where this artwork has been displayed.

The painting, executed in ink on paper and mounted as a hanging scroll, remains part of the museum's holdings without further public exhibition history detailed in the current records.

Kano Yukinobu’s The Daoist Immortal Liezi Flying on a Cloud (1544) occupies a pivotal position within the Kano school’s engagement with Daoist themes during the Muromachi period. Scholars highlight the work as an exemplar of the school’s synthesis of Chinese literati aesthetics with Japanese ink painting traditions, reflecting the era’s intellectual fascination with Daoist immortals and their symbolic transcendence. The fan format, repurposed as a hanging scroll, underscores the adaptability of Kano artists in catering to both functional and contemplative demands of elite patrons.

Art-historical discourse situates the painting within Yukinobu’s broader oeuvre, noting its alignment with the Kano school’s emphasis on dynamic brushwork and monochrome ink techniques. While the work’s provenance in the Metropolitan Museum of Art has amplified its visibility in Western scholarship, Japanese art historians often contextualize it as part of a larger corpus of Daoist-inspired compositions that bridged religious iconography and secular artistry during the 16th century. Its depiction of Liezi, a figure associated with effortless movement, resonates with contemporaneous Zen and Neo-Confucian ideals of spontaneity and harmony with nature.

Created in 1544 by Kano Yukinobu, this ink-on-paper work is executed on a fan‑shaped surface that was originally intended to be held rather than displayed on a wall. The composition shows a solitary figure, identified as the Daoist sage Liezi, suspended above a delicate, swirling cloud. The piece exemplifies the minimalist aesthetic of monochrome brush painting, emphasizing atmosphere over narrative detail.