Who painted Landscape of the Four Seasons?

Landscape of the Four Seasons was painted by Yi Sumun in 1404.

Where can I see Landscape of the Four Seasons?

Landscape of the Four Seasons is held by Cleveland Museum of Art.

What movement is Landscape of the Four Seasons?

Landscape of the Four Seasons is associated with Korean Minhwa.

Artwork

Landscape of the Four Seasons

Yi Sumun , 1404

Landscape of the Four Seasons is an unspecified painting by the Korean Minhwa artist Yi Sumun. It dates from 1404 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Accession no.: 1976.92
Credit line: John L. Severance Fund

About this work

He kept the quiet, flowing brushwork of Korean landscapes but let the seasons stretch across two whole screens, something new for the time.

You’re looking at a pair of folding screens that unroll like a scroll of the year. Tiny hills, rivers, and trees shift from spring blossoms to winter snow, all in black ink on paper.

Yi Sumun painted this after moving from Korea to Japan at twenty. He kept the quiet, flowing brushwork of Korean landscapes but let the seasons stretch across two whole screens, something new for the time.

To see how Korean painters of the Joseon dynasty shaped these quiet scenes, look up korea, joseon dynasty (1392–1910).

Overview

Landscape of the Four Seasons is a pair of folding screens painted in black ink on paper, depicting the cyclical progression of the year from right to left.

Subject & Meaning

The work illustrates the passage of the four seasons, a theme prevalent in medieval Japanese ink painting, conveying the transient nature of time through subtle changes in landscape elements such as blossoms, rivers, and snow.

Technique & Style

The screens exhibit quiet, flowing brushwork characteristic of Korean landscapes from the Joseon dynasty, adapted by Yi Sumun in a novel, expansive composition across two screens, a departure from contemporaneous practices.

History & Provenance

Created by Yi Sumun, a Korean painter who migrated to Japan in 1424 at the age of 20, this piece is his most significant work in the screen format, reflecting his artistic evolution in a new milieu.