Chinese Landscape

1500s

Chinese Landscape, 1500s. Japan, Muromachi period (1392–1573). One of a pair of six-fold screens; ink and slight color on paper; image: 155.5 x 357.8 cm (61 1/4 x 140 7/8 in.); overall: 171.5 x 373.4 cm (67 1/2 x 147 in.); closed: 171.5 x 63.5 x 11 cm (67 1/2 x 25 x 4 5/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Severance and Greta Millikin Collection 1964.279.1 In a panorama of mountains and expanses of water, three gentlemen have assembled by moonlight to enjoy one another’s company away from a bustling village. An influx of ink paintings from China in both album and scroll formats beginning in the late 1200s inspired Japanese artists to create landscapes based upon Chinese prototypes. Later, Japanese painters adapted the imagery to the larger format of folding screens, which were used to define spaces in large rooms.