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Photo: Eduardo Calderon
Small Retreat in the Mountains
Photo: Eduardo Calderon

Small Retreat in the Mountains

Date1927
Label TextKodôjin's paintings continued the literati appreciation of landscape as the appropriate allusion for the ideal life. Here massive cliffs frame the view of a small village and a towering distant peak; in the foreground a scholar sweeps the path before a simple hut. The scholar is separated from village life by a barrier of trees, and the remote location and intervening distance are emphasized by a band of clouds. Much like this scholar-hermit set apart from village life, Kodôjin adamantly maintained his independence from the art establishment that had developed during the Taishô period (1912-1926).
Object number2010.41.49
Photo CreditPhoto: Eduardo Calderon
Published ReferencesMorioka, Michiyo; Berry, Paul. "Modern Masters of Kyoto: The Transformation of Japanese Painting Traditions," Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1999, p. 222, illus. 63.
Credit LineGift of Griffith and Patricia Way, in honor of the 75th Anniversary of the Seattle Art Museum
Dimensions85 1/8 x 22 3/8 in. (216.2 x 56.8 cm)
MediumInk on silk