Mountain Temple in a Sea of Clouds
Sold – no longer available
This piece was a handmade one-of-a-kind work. It cannot be reordered and will never exist in this form again. The page stays online as part of our archive.
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Details about the sold piece
- Height 185 cm
- Width 40 cm
- Item Type Kakemono
- Jikusaki Wood
- Material Honshi Paper
- Period of Creation Meiji (1868–1912)
- Technique Hand-Painted
- Unique Work Yes
No longer available
Description
Steep peaks, seemingly born from mist, rise one above another in this hanging scroll, while the roofs of a small temple and a pagoda can be glimpsed between the rock formations. A narrow stream winds at the foot of the mountains through moss-covered rocks, lined with gnarled pines and blossoming branches.
This type of cloud and mist mountain traditionally represents, in East Asian landscape painting, the unfathomableness of nature and places of seclusion where scholars and monks sought tranquility. The accompanying calligraphy in the upper third of the image refers to a poetic title and rounds off the composition into a coherent overall work.
Painted on paper in the Meiji period and fitted with a wooden mounting, this kakemono shows the combination, typical of its time of creation, of fine detail work in the foreground and generously left-out areas of mist. An impressive piece for collectors of antique Japanese landscape painting.
