Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

Ashmolean − Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

Japanese Paintings in the Ashmolean Museum

A catalogue of the Ashmolean's collection of Japanese paintings by Janice Katz (published Oxford, 2003).

Japanese Paintings in the Ashmolean Museum by Janice Katz

Publications online: 43 objects

Reference URL

Actions

Send e-mail

Contact us about this object

Send e-mail

Send to a friend

Mountain landscape with figures by a river

  • Literature notes

    Bairi Sanjin, whose family name wasTerajima, is a little known artist today though he made quite a name for himself as a Nanga painter in his day in Edo. He is listed in both the Kinsei itsujin gashi [Kimura. 294.] and the Koga bikō [Asaoka Okisada, zōtei koga bikō (Kyoto: Shinbunkaku, 1970).], two nineteenth century compilations of artist’s biographies.

    He began a career in the tile business, and later in life increasingly devoted himself to painting. It is his later compositions that reveal the most creativity and masterful handling of the brush. The Ashmolean's painting is one of his few known extant works. It is dated to 1791, just seven years before the artist’s death and demonstrates the technical knowledge and confidence he achieved at the high point of his career.

    A majestic mountain done in subtle ink tones overpowers the scene in a truly monumental fashion. In the foreground, trees, rocks and river are all painted with a slightly wavy line, giving the sense that nature is indeed alive. Roots of the maple trees look as if they are about to break free from the ground, and the leaves about to blow away in the wind. The pair of trees intertwine, mimicking the closeness of the two friends who sit in conversation underneath. The men are seemingly unaware of the vitality of nature around them while an attendant fans the fire to heat up a pot of tea. However inviting it may be, the landscape is actually a static one that cannot be entered. The course of the water or dirt paths end or start abruptly, and the viewer is given no access to the landscape. Instead, our attention is drawn to the two friends enjoying a pleasant outing.

    Bairi Sanjin was an artist working in an area of Edo known as Naka no gō. He was not one to be concerned with worldly affairs, leaving the running of the household and family business to his son and rarely accepting money for his paintings. His style was said to be free, easy and unconventional, though it is clear from the two figures in this work that he was familiar with models in the Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting. The artist has successfully used his knowledge of these models, however, to create a vibrant and magical landscape. [Another painting by Bairi Sanjin of a mythical animal known as a kirin was in the collection of Umezawa Seiichi. It displays similar brushwork to the painting in the Ashmolean. See Umezawa Seiichi, Nihon nanga shi (Tokyo: Tōhō-shoin, 1929), 452].
  • Details

    Associated place
    Asia Japan (place of creation)
    AsiaJapanHonshūKantōTōkyō prefecture Tōkyō (possible place of creation)
    Date
    1791
    Artist/maker
    Bairi Sanjin (died 1798) (artist)
    Material and technique
    ink and light colour on paper
    Dimensions
    mount 190 x 68.3 cm approx (height x width)
    painting 131 x 56.5 cm (height x width)
    along roller 74.5 cm (length)
    Material index
    Technique index
    Object type index
    No. of items
    1
    Credit line
    Purchased with the assistance the Higher Studies Fund, the Victoria and Albert Museum Fund, and with donations from the friends of P. C. Swann, 1966.
    Accession no.
    EA1966.117
  • Further reading

    Katz, Janice, Japanese Paintings in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, with an introductory essay by Oliver Impey (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2003), no. 9 on p. 62, p. 39, illus. p. 63

Location

    • currently in research collection

Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.

 

Publications online

  • Japanese Paintings in the Ashmolean Museum by Janice Katz

    Japanese Paintings in the Ashmolean Museum

    Bairi Sanjin, whose family name wasTerajima, is a little known artist today though he made quite a name for himself as a Nanga painter in his day in Edo. He is listed in both the Kinsei itsujin gashi [Kimura. 294.] and the Koga bikō [Asaoka Okisada, zōtei koga bikō (Kyoto: Shinbunkaku, 1970).], two nineteenth century compilations of artist’s biographies.

    He began a career in the tile business, and later in life increasingly devoted himself to painting. It is his later compositions that reveal the most creativity and masterful handling of the brush. The Ashmolean's painting is one of his few known extant works. It is dated to 1791, just seven years before the artist’s death and demonstrates the technical knowledge and confidence he achieved at the high point of his career.

    A majestic mountain done in subtle ink tones overpowers the scene in a truly monumental fashion. In the foreground, trees, rocks and river are all painted with a slightly wavy line, giving the sense that nature is indeed alive. Roots of the maple trees look as if they are about to break free from the ground, and the leaves about to blow away in the wind. The pair of trees intertwine, mimicking the closeness of the two friends who sit in conversation underneath. The men are seemingly unaware of the vitality of nature around them while an attendant fans the fire to heat up a pot of tea. However inviting it may be, the landscape is actually a static one that cannot be entered. The course of the water or dirt paths end or start abruptly, and the viewer is given no access to the landscape. Instead, our attention is drawn to the two friends enjoying a pleasant outing.

    Bairi Sanjin was an artist working in an area of Edo known as Naka no gō. He was not one to be concerned with worldly affairs, leaving the running of the household and family business to his son and rarely accepting money for his paintings. His style was said to be free, easy and unconventional, though it is clear from the two figures in this work that he was familiar with models in the Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting. The artist has successfully used his knowledge of these models, however, to create a vibrant and magical landscape. [Another painting by Bairi Sanjin of a mythical animal known as a kirin was in the collection of Umezawa Seiichi. It displays similar brushwork to the painting in the Ashmolean. See Umezawa Seiichi, Nihon nanga shi (Tokyo: Tōhō-shoin, 1929), 452].
Notice

Object information may not accurately reflect the actual contents of the original publication, since our online objects contain current information held in our collections database. Click on 'buy this publication' to purchase printed versions of our online publications, where available, or contact the Jameel Study Centre to arrange access to books on our collections that are now out of print.

© 2013 University of Oxford - Ashmolean Museum