Bamboo in Four Seasons: Summer

Description

The painting depicts high bamboo stems in a breeze with leaves all torn in one direction. The rock on the right suggests a garden setting. Bamboo remains green throughout the year; new shoots emerge every spring and are a Chinese delicacy. During the Yuan dynasty, monochrome ink painting became the dominant style of the scholar-artist, and is used here by a professional painter. Monochrome bamboo with leaves blown in the wind was a popular subject as its depiction demanded brushstrokes and techniques similar to writing calligraphy.

Provenance

Gorō Sakamoto [1923–2016]; (Fugendo Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) (?–1982); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1982–)

Bamboo in Four Seasons: Summer

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1279–1368

Accession Number

1982.150.1

Medium

hanging scroll; ink on silk

Dimensions

Overall: 232.3 x 82.6 cm (91 7/16 x 32 1/2 in.)

Classification

Painting

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund