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Temple in the Evening Mist
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Temple in the Evening Mist
CHINA; Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279); Attributed to Muxi; Ink on paper; 32.2 x 103.6 cm; Hatakeyama Memorial Museum of Fine Art, Tokyo, Japan
This painting is part of the set Eight Views of Xiaoxiang, and is attributed to Muxi, a monastic painter from the Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279). The Eight Views of Xiaoxiang was originally a single long scroll but was cut into sections after it was brought to Japan. The seal of Doyu is stamped in the lower left corner of this painting. It once belonged to the collection of Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, and subsequently passed through the hands of the warlord Oda Nobunaga, the Tokugawa clan, and the Maeda clan. It was listed as a National Treasure of Japan in 1954.
Most of the painting is empty. Trees and the roof of a temple, delicately painted with washed ink, rise from the mist. The depiction of distant forms appearing within nothingness hints at profound Chan themes. |
