Plum Blossoms and Bamboo
1818
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
About the artist
1818
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Plum Blossoms and Bamboo is a 1818 by Tanomura Chikuden, a Romanticism work, depicting Bamboo, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
This painting shows dark bamboo stems with light pink plum blossoms against a plain background. The artist uses thin, delicate lines for the bamboo and soft washes of color for the flowers. It looks quiet and precise, like a careful study of nature. Plum blossoms mean winter’s end in Japan. This work is from the Edo period, when artists often painted small, personal scenes like this. The artist was a doctor who painted for fun, not for money. Look up Tanomura Chikuden (Japanese, 1777–1835) to see more of his work.
