Open full image Pin
Returning Sails off a Distant Shores, from Eight Views of Xiao-Xiang, by Tani Bunchō, unspecified, 1788

Returning Sails off a Distant Shores, from Eight Views of Xiao-Xiang

Tani Bunchō

1788

unspecified

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Dominant colour

Overview

Returning Sails off a Distant Shores, from Eight Views of Xiao-Xiang is a 1788 unspecified by Tani Bunchō, a Nihonga work, depicting Zhejiang Province, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?
Tani Bunchō
When & what style?
1788 · Nihonga
Where can I see it?
Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

You see a serene landscape with sails in the distance, set against a misty background. This painting is part of a set of album leaves representing a theme from Chinese poetry. It's interesting because it shows how Japanese artists were inspired by Chinese ideas. To learn more about this style, check out the work at The Cleveland Museum of Art.

The story of this work

Overview

This painting was part of a set of album leaves representing the Eight Views of Xiao-Xiang, a theme originating in Chinese poetry and painting that spread to both Korea and Japan. Southern China’s Xiao-Xiang area, where the mist-covered banks of the Xiang River created a complex landscape shifting like the moods and minds of people, captured the imaginations of generations of painters and calligraphers. Inscriptions on these works suggest that they were possibly ordered by newly prominent Japanese Confucian scholars.

Read the full account in the museum source.

About the artist

More by Tani Bunchō

Artifact World Gallery — 100,000 artworks Get the app