Who painted Seventy-two Peaks Against the Blue Sky?

Seventy-two Peaks Against the Blue Sky was painted by Matsumura Goshun in 1785-01-01.

Where can I see Seventy-two Peaks Against the Blue Sky?

Seventy-two Peaks Against the Blue Sky is held by Cleveland Museum of Art.

What movement is Seventy-two Peaks Against the Blue Sky?

Seventy-two Peaks Against the Blue Sky is associated with Nanga.

Artwork

Seventy-two Peaks Against the Blue Sky

Matsumura Goshun , 1793

Seventy-two Peaks Against the Blue Sky is an unspecified painting by the Nanga artist Matsumura Goshun. It dates from 1793 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.

About this work

Technique & Style

The work is an ink-on-paper painting created in Japan in 1785. It depicts seventy-two mountain peaks against a blue sky, rendered with delicate line work and subtle tonal gradations characteristic of the artist's style. The composition employs negative space to emphasize atmospheric perspective, while the brushwork shows controlled variation in density to suggest depth and contour in the terrain.

History & Provenance

Seventy-two Peaks Against the Blue Sky is a painting created in 1785 by Matsumura Goshun, a Japanese artist active during the Edo period.

Seventy-two Peaks Against the Blue Sky is a painting created in 1785 by Matsumura Goshun, a Japanese artist active during the Edo period. The work is part of the Cleveland Museum of Art's collection and was acquired through a donation recorded in 1980, reflecting its established presence in the museum's holdings.

The painting was made in Japan and reflects the artistic traditions of late 18th-century Japanese landscape painting. Its creation date of 1785 aligns with Goshun's active years as documented in art historical records.

Overview

Seventy‑two Peaks Against the Blue Sky, painted by Matsumura Goshun in 1793, is a six‑panel folding screen now in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. The work presents a stylised mountain landscape rendered in monochrome against a uniform yellow field, creating a stark visual contrast that emphasizes the composition’s rhythmic arrangement.

Subject & Meaning

The screen depicts a sweeping range of seventy‑two stylised peaks, punctuated by sparse trees that suggest a distant, idealised landscape. The minimal narrative focus invites contemplation of nature’s vastness and the subtle interplay between emptiness and form, reflecting Edo‑period aesthetic values that prized suggestion over literal representation.

Context

Matsumura Goshun, a prominent figure in the nanga movement, blended Chinese literati painting principles with Japanese sensibilities. This work exemplifies the period’s fascination with landscape as a vehicle for scholarly expression, aligning with contemporary practices that favored monochrome ink studies on decorative formats such as folding screens.