Images(3)

Sanjo Bridge

Date1896

Maker Mochizuki Gyokusen Japanese, 1834 - 1913

Label TextGyokusen’s extensive use of gold leaf to represent clouds and mist is a time-honored technique in Japanese painting, yet the foliage shows the influence of the realist Shijo school. The right screen portrays distinctive Sanjo Bridge at the height of cherry blossom season. Sanjo Bridge would carry travelers across the Kamo River and into the heart of the imperial capital of Kyoto. The left screen’s wintry snowscape features an architectural symbol of modern Kyoto and of Meiji Japan: Daigokuden, the central hall of the Heian Jingu shrine, which was built in 1895 to commemorate the 1100-year anniversary of the founding of the Imperial capital.

Object number2010.41.7

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Journeys in Landscape: Modern Art in Japan, Nov. 26, 2004 - Jan. 30, 2006. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Legends, Tales, Poetry: Visual Narrative in Japanese Art, Dec. 22, 2012 - July 21, 2013. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Boundless: Stories of Asian Art, Feb. 8, 2020 - ongoing [on view beginning Jan. 13, 2023].Published ReferencesMichiyo, Morioka; Berry, Paul. "Modern Masters of Kyoto: The Transformation of Japanese Painting Traditions," Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1999, p. 97-99, illus. 13.

Credit LineGift of Griffith and Patricia Way, in honor of the 75th Anniversary of the Seattle Art Museum

Dimensions53 5/8 x 111 1/2 in. (136.2 x 283.2 cm) Overall: 53 5/8 in. x 223 in. (136.2 x 283.2 cm)

MediumPair of six-panel screens: ink, color, and gold on silk