Minneapolis Institute of Art

Landscape with Pavilion

Sesson Shūkei

Date

mid 16th century

Medium

Hanging scroll, ink and color on silk

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

At lower right, a Chinese gentleman riding a donkey and a young attendant on foot head uphill toward a cluster of luxurious buildings framed by pine and willow trees. A friend awaits them in a lakeside pavilion. Standing at the parapet, he gazes out over an expanse of mist, water, and mountain peaks—all suggested by light ink washes and areas of bare silk—toward a distant shore where a solitary fisherman rows his boat. Sesson Shūkei was a Zen priest and painter now best known for his eccentric takes on classical Buddhist themes. The meticulous brushwork and conventional corner-weighted composition of this landscape, however, suggests that it was painted early in Sesson’s career when he was a careful student of classical Chinese painting. Japan, Asia

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