Gazing at a Waterfall

Description

Chinese poet Li Bai’s (701–762) poem “Gazing at a Waterfall on Mount Lu” is about experiencing the vastness of the galaxy in relationship to one’s own being. Japanese Zen monk-poet Keijo Shūrin (1440–1518) identified Li’s poem as the inspiration for Japanese painter Geiami’s (1431–1485) work Gazing at a Waterfall, in the collection of the Nezu Museum, which features sharp brushstrokes and bright colors. In contrast, this album leaf’s painter, Geiami’s son Sōami, took a more delicate approach to the theme. The waterfall and the pair watching it frame the mist rising from the water at the center of the image.

Provenance

(Kinzen Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) (?–1977); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1977–)

Gazing at a Waterfall

Sōami

early 1500s

Accession Number

1977.30

Medium

Album leaf mounted as a hanging scroll; ink and slight color on paper

Dimensions

Painting: 29 x 30.1 cm (11 7/16 x 11 7/8 in.); Mounted with knobs: 113 x 47.6 cm (44 1/2 x 18 3/4 in.)

Classification

Painting

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund