Description
Two young women cool themselves by a river as a willow blows in the breeze. One crouches down to rinse a hand towel, while the other sits with her chin balanced on her fan. Beside her is a black lacquer tray with a floral design in gold, holding her tobacco kit.
Tsukioka Tessai was an Osaka-based ukiyo-e artist who was especially respected for his representations of beautiful women (bijin). The court bestowed upon him the rank Bridge of the Law (hokyo) in 1778, and he was eventually elevated in rank to Eye of the Law (hogen).
Tsukioka Tessai was an Osaka-based ukiyo-e artist who was especially respected for his representations of beautiful women (bijin). The court bestowed upon him the rank Bridge of the Law (hokyo) in 1778, and he was eventually elevated in rank to Eye of the Law (hogen).
Provenance
(Nathan Chaikin, Switzerland, sold to Mr. and Mrs. Kelvin Smith); The Kelvin Smith Collection, Cleveland, OH, given by Mrs. Kelvin [Eleanor Armstrong] Smith [1899–1998] to the Cleveland Museum of Art (?–1985); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1985–)
Accession Number
1985.273
Medium
Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
Dimensions
Overall: 94 x 33.2 cm (37 x 13 1/16 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
The Kelvin Smith Collection, given by Mrs. Kelvin Smith
Tags
Painting Neoclassical & Romantic (1751–1850) Ink Paper Japanese
Background & Context
Background Story
Tsukioka Sessai (active late 18th century) was a Japanese painter known for the elegantly composed paintings of nature subjects that make him one of the accomplished painters of the Edo period. Beneath the Willow from after 1778 depicts a scene beneath a willow tree in the elegantly composed, atmospheric manner that distinguishes Sessai's best work from the more general painting of his contemporaries. The willow tree was one of the most important subjects in Japanese painting, symbolizing grace and flexibility, and Sessai's elegantly composed treatment shows the Japanese painting tradition at its most refined.
Cultural Impact
Beneath the Willow is important in the history of Japanese painting because it demonstrates the elegantly composed, atmospheric manner of the Edo period painting tradition as applied to one of the most important subjects in Japanese painting. The willow tree—symbolizing grace and flexibility—was one of the most important subjects in Japanese painting, and the after 1778 painting shows this tradition at its most elegantly composed and atmospheric.
Why It Matters
Beneath the Willow is Sessai's elegantly composed Edo painting: a scene beneath a willow tree rendered in the atmospheric manner of one of the accomplished painters of the Edo period. The after 1778 painting shows the willow tree—one of the most important subjects in Japanese painting—at its most elegantly composed.
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