Summer Landscape

Nakabayashi Chikutō, artist

1776–1853

Summer Landscape, 1834, Edo period (1600–1868)

Where object was made: Japan

Material/technique: ink; silk

Dimensions:
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 141 x 52.1 cm
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 55 1/2 x 20 1/2 in
Mount Dimensions (Height x Width x Depth): 197.2 x 64.9 cm
Mount Dimensions (Height x Width x Depth): 77 5/8 x 25 9/16 in
Roller Dimensions (Width x Diameter): 27 7/8 in

Credit line: Museum purchase

Accession number: 1987.0187

Not on display

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Label texts

Archive Label 2003:
Chikutō, the son of a Nagoya doctor, was a member of a lively group of Nanga or literati artists in Kyoto centered around the scholar-painter and sinologist Rai San’yo (1781-1832). In the early nineteenth century, Chinese paintings and books were more available in Japan than they had been earlier, and this fourth generation of Japanese Nanga painters focused careful attention on Chinese models and painting theory. As a young man, Chikuto had access to a private collection of Chinese paintings and books that belonged to a wealthy Nagoya collector, and his brushwork reflects his careful study of his models. Typical of his landscapes are the proliferation of small square rocks piled one on top of the other and the systematic application of brushstrokes. In this painting, the range of ink tonalities is particularly rich and varied.

Archive Label date unknown:
Chikutō was a fervent student of Chinese-style painting who studied his models carefully and strove to recreate the composition and textural buildup of brushstrokes so admired by Chinese artists. His inscription on this landscape does not designate his model, but it is similar to other paintings that Chikutō claimed were following Dung Yuan. Typical of his landscapes are the proliferation of small square rocks piled one on top of the other and the systematic application of brushstrokes. The range of ink tonalities here is extraordinarily rich and varied.