Cleveland Museum of Art

Seventy-Two Peaks Under the Blue Sky with Mount Furong

Matsumura Goshun

Date

1785

Medium

Eight-panel folding screen; ink with gold and silver foil on paper

Culture

Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)

Department

Japanese Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

The low height of this folding screen suggests its use as a partition in a small tearoom. An inscription identifies the scene as the 72-peak Heng mountain range in Hunan, China, associated with Buddhist and Daoist traditions and celebrated in poetry. Special mention in the inscription is made of Mount Furong, one of the peaks in the range. Matsumura Goshun may have drawn inspiration from his teacher, Yosa Buson (与謝蕪村) (1716–1783), whose final work depicted the same mountain range. By painting on silver and gold foil, Matsumura Goshun created an alluring surface and deep space in this surprisingly spare vista.

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