Harvard Art Museums > TL42570.6: Ode to the Red Cliff Paintings Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"Ode to the Red Cliff (Tani Bunchō 谷文晁) , TL42570.6,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Mar 29, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/340360. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Gallery Text Bunchō was fond of pictorializing "Ode to the Red Cliff," a pair of poems by Chinese scholar-poet Su Shi (1037–1101). In the first poem, set in the seventh month, Su Shi rides in a boat with friends past the Red Cliff, drinking wine along the way. One of his companions plays a sad tune on the flute, reminding the group of the historical Battle of the Red Cliff (208 CE). They ruminate on the impermanent nature of the deeds of men. Inspired by the moonlit setting, Su ends the poem by praising the limitless potential of nature to catalyze human creativity. In the second ode, set in the tenth month, Su marvels at the transformation of the site in winter snow. Later he dreams of two immortals in feathered robes and realizes that a soaring crane he had seen earlier that evening was in fact one of them. Bunchō differentiates the setting of the two poems with summer (right) and winter (left) foliage and uses short "axe-cut" strokes to render the cliff face. The legible spatial recession was conditioned by his study of a famous pair of landscapes by the Chinese Academy painter Li Tang (c. 1070–1150), which he viewed at Kyoto’s Kōtō-in temple in 1796. This diptych stands out as a rare example of Bunchō’s work from the last decade of the 18th century, long regarded as the height of his artistry. Identification and Creation Object Number TL42570.6 People Tani Bunchō 谷文晁, Japanese (Edo 1763 - 1841) Title Ode to the Red Cliff Classification Paintings Work Type painting, hanging scroll Date 1800 Places Creation Place: East Asia, Japan Period Edo period, 1615-1868 Culture Japanese Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/340360 Location Location Level 2, Room 2600, East Asian Art, East Asian Painting and Decorative Arts View this object's location on our interactive map Physical Descriptions Medium Pair of hanging scrolls; ink and light color on silk Dimensions image only: 114.7 x 55.1 cm (45 3/16 x 21 11/16 in.) with mount: 211 x 72.9 cm (83 1/16 x 28 11/16 in.) Inscriptions and Marks signature: left painting: 寛政庚申六月 文晁畫 [Painted by Bunchō in the sixth month of the stem year Kōshin (kanoe-saru; 1800) in the Kansei era] signature: right painting: 文晁 [Bunchō] seal: both paintings; rectangular, relief: 文晁 [Bunchō] Acquisition and Rights Credit Line Promised gift of Robert S. and Betsy G. Feinberg Object Number TL42570.6 Division Asian and Mediterranean Art Contact am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu Permissions The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request. Publication History Rachel Saunders, ed., Catalogue of the Feinberg Collection of Japanese Art, brochure, Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, 2021), p. 34, cat. 20 Exhibition History 32Q: 2600 East Asian, Japanese, Chinese and Korean, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 12/04/2023 - 06/03/2024 Painting Edo: Japanese Art from the Feinberg Collection, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 02/14/2020 - 06/06/2021 Verification Level This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu