Scholar's Hut in the Mountains (above), Imaginary View of Qingjiang Prefecture in Sichuan Province, China (below)
Mounting: 47 × 14 3/4 in. (119.4 × 37.5 cm)
hanging height: 48 in. (121.9 cm)
The Japanese Nanga School of painting was founded around 1700. The term "Nanga"—literally "Southern School" in Japanese—invokes the centuries-old tradition of gentleman-scholar painting by amateur artists of noble birth in China, which had been designated as the "Southern School" in the late 16th century by prominent Chinese art theorists and collectors. Tanomura Chokunyu established himself as a leading late Nanga School master.
In these two album leaves, one sees representative Nanga subjects: mountain and valley landscapes, each punctuated by a rustic hermitage. Such imagery expressed the scholarly ideal of the quiet contemplation of nature as a form of relaxation and self-cultivation. The poetic inscription on the top painting underscores these sentiments:
[There is] no trace of grass in the streams;
At leisure, the pond of my heart remains clear.
The secluded gentleman is able to chant and sing;
Only pine trees and springs are quiet.
The inscription on the lower painting identifies the view as a famous region in China called literally in Chinese, Clear River. Since Tanomura Chokunyu—like most Nanga artists—never traveled to China, this is an imaginary scene, informed by the prevailing Japanese literatus identification with those natural places favored by eminent Chinese gentlemen-scholars of the past.
