Mount Horai, Island of Immortality
Date1864
Maker
Hine Taizan
Japanese, 1813 - 1869
School of
Bunjinga (Nanga) School
Label TextTwo cranes bring visitors to a fantastic mountain garlanded by swirling clouds and dotted by pine trees. These visitors, joining two others relaxing in the upper story of a pavilion at lower right, are Daoist immortals, arriving at their legendary island abode, Mount Penglai (in Japanese, Hōrai), in the first rays of the morning sun.
Hine Taizan was a leading figure in the artistic movement known in Japan as Bunjinga, or “Literati Painting,” which has roots in ancient China and found unique expression in Korea and Japan. Bunjinga prioritizes expressiveness, is inherently archaistic in its orientation, and seeks to unite painting with its sister arts, calligraphy and poetry. To create this image of a Daoist paradise, Taizan used repeated round forms to shape the mountain and long, dry brushstrokes to capture its textures in imitation of the early Chinese painter Juran (act. ca. 960–95), whose work was known to painters in Japan mostly through printed books and later artists’ imitations of Juran’s distinctive style.
Object number75.59
ProvenanceFranctional Interest Gift of Dr. and Mrs. R. Joseph Monsen of Seattle to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington
Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Legends, Tales, Poetry: Visual Narrative in Japanese Art, December 22, 2012 - July 21, 2013
Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, "Transforming Traditions: Japanese and Korean Art since 1800", May 23, 2009 - February 21, 2010
Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, "A Sack Full of Tigers: Diffusion and Diversity in Japanese Painting of the 19th Century Diffusion and Diversity in Japanese Painting", December 6, 1997 - November 15, 1998
Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, "Signs of Fortune, Symbols of Immortality", November 2, 2000 - July 25, 2001
Knoxville Museum of Art, Tennessee, "Art Works on Loan", Dec. 24, 1989 - January 5, 1990. (12/24/1989 - 01/05/1990)
Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, "A Thousand Cranes: Treasures of Japanese Art", February 5 - July 12, 1987 (02/05/1987 - 07/12/1987)Published References"Selected Works." Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1991, p. 198Credit LineGift of Dr. R. Joseph Monsen and Dr. Elaine R. Monsen
DimensionsOverall (incl. endknobs): 96 7/16 × 48 1/8 in. (245 × 122.2 cm)
Image: 74 9/16 × 34 3/4 in. (189.4 × 88.3 cm)
MediumInk and color on silk
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