Landscapec. 1700–1751 · Study 1980.81

Context from the museum

A teacher of Confucian ethics, the Chinese philosophical system focused on social harmony and familial responsibility, Gion Nankai was also a painter. Ike Taiga (池大雅) (1723–1776) was among his students. Nankai inscribed this landscape with one of 24 poems for painting subjects composed by the scholar and painter Tang Yin (唐寅) (Chinese, 1470–1524). It reads as follows: The mountain pavilion is desolate, visitors are rare. Mud patches the brushwood gate; leaves patch my clothes. Rising not from the bamboo bed, my head like snow. Already without intent, I abandon questions of Zen.

Museum description reproduced from its CC0 open-access record. Read the original catalog entry.

Read the dimensions before the image

The selected painting measurement for Landscape is 55.2 cm wide and 102.2 cm high, equivalent to approximately 21.7 × 40.2 inches. Dividing width by height gives a format ratio of 0.54:1. The rectangular bounding area is 0.56 square meters; it describes the measured footprint, not the amount of paint or the monetary value.

On an illustrative 300 cm wall, the recorded width occupies 18.4% of the span before adding a frame. A centered placement leaves approximately 122.4 cm on each side before adding a frame. These are calculations by Physical Art For Crypto using museum measurements. They are not the museum’s display recommendations.

Questions to bring to your own collection

With Landscape in view, identify one feature you can point to, then distinguish what the museum records from your personal response. Keep its medium, hanging scroll; ink and color on paper, in your notes when comparing contemporary works.

• Which part of this vertical composition catches your eye first?
• Would a 55.2 cm width still suit the space after allowing for furniture and a frame?
• What surface detail would you need to see in person or in a close photograph?