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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
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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

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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

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