Landscape

Object Details

• Artist

  Attributed to Shubun

• Label

  The Zen (in Chinese, Chan) Buddhist sect, which originated in China, stresses meditation as a means of attaining enlightenment. After Chinese monks established the first Zen monasteries in Japan under the patronage of the new warrior elite, Zen temples fostered the styles and themes of Chinese ink painting. Ink landscapes such as this one became a major genre of Japanese painting during the Muromachi period (1392-1573).

  Shubun (fl. ca. 1420-ca. 1463), a Zen Buddhist monk of high rank at the Shokokuji monastery in Kyoto, was considered the preeminent Japanese painter of the second quarter of the 15th century. His principal artistic achievement was representing limitless space in painting. Although many ink paintings, especially landscapes, have been attributed to Shubun, there is little scholarly agreement on the authorship of surviving works associated with his name.

• Provenance

  By at least 1900-no later than 1931

  Baron Ryuichi Kuki (1852-1931), method of acquisition unknown [1]

  About 1931-1959

  The object’s ownership and whereabouts are unknown

  By at least 1959-1963

  Oriental Art Gallery, New York, method of acquisition unknown [2]

  From 1963

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Oriental Art Gallery, New York [3]

  Notes:

  [1] See Japan Commission Impériale à l’Exposition Universalle de Paris, 1900 ed., “Histoire de l’art du Japon” [exhibition catalog] (Paris: M. de Brunoff, 1900), pl. XLII, no. 2. Baron Ryūichi Kuki, born Hoshizaki Sadajirō, was a Japanese politician specializing in cultural policy and would become Director General of the Tokyo Imperial Palace Museum. He was a patron of the arts and the father of philosopher, poet, and art critic Shūzō Kuki (1888-1941).

  [2] See Freer Gallery of Art vault card no. V83.59, indicating that Joseph Seo, Oriental Art Gallery, left the object at the Freer for examination on June 26, 1959. Joseph U. Seo (1911-1998) was a Japanese-American art dealer who specialized in Chinese and Japanese Art. He had his own business in New York, Seo & Company, until about 1950, when he became the New York representative for the Tokyo-based Oriental Art Gallery.

  [3] See object file for copy of Oriental Art Gallery invoice to Freer Gallery of Art, dated July 1, 1963, and marked approved by the Secretary on November 18, 1959.

  Research updated April 13, 2023

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Mind Over Matter: Zen in Medieval Japan (March 5, 2022 - July 24, 2022)

  Zen, Tea, and Chinese Art in Medieval Japan (December 13, 2014 to June 14, 2015)

  Landscapes in Japanese Art (February 2 to July 15, 2007)

  The Idea of China in Japan: The Tea Ceremony in Japan (December 19, 1999 to June 11, 2000)

  Luminous Shadows (April 1, 1982 to June 21, 1982)

  Japanese Ceramics (April 11, 1978 to January 17, 1980)

  Japanese Art (July 1, 1974 to April 10, 1978)

  Japanese Art: Paintings and Pottery (July 1, 1966 to May 2, 1973)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Baron Kuki Ryuichi 九鬼 隆一 (1852-1931)

  Oriental Art Gallery

• Origin

  Japan

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1500s, 1400s

• Name

  Seo, Joseph U., Ryuichi, Kuki

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Landscapes, Art, Muromachi period (1333 - 1573), Japanese Art, Kakemono

• Culture

  Buddhists, Japanese

• Object Type

  Paintings