Gibbons_Muromachi period (1392–1573)

Gibbons_Muromachi period (1392–1573)

 

 

Gibbons, Muromachi period (1392–1573)
Sesson Shukei (Japanese, 1504–1589?)
Japan

Pair of six-panel screens; ink on paper

 

 

Detail 1

 

Amidst a rocky landscape, eleven furry gibbons gambol about, sit in contemplation, and point toward the moon's reflection. Symbols of the underlying unity of all living creatures, gibbons have long been a popular theme for Zen monk-painters. This composition on a pair of folding screens is considered a late work of the Zen monk-artist Sesson Shukei and is painted with his characteristic humor and staccato contrasts of strong black ink combined with pale wash, forming rhythmic patterns that create a unified whole. The last great painter of the Muromachi period, Sesson, along with his contemporaries, exemplified the full assimilation of the Chinese-derived ink painting tradition into a form that was uniquely Japanese.

[The Metropolitan Museum of Art]

 

모암문고 茅岩文庫 The Moam Collection www.moamcollection.org