Monkeys and trees on a river bank1568-1615
Sesson Shūkei painted this in 1568-1615, aged about 64. It is now at the National Museum of Asian Art in Washington, DC. More about this work
About this work
Sesson Shūkei painted this in 1568-1615, aged about 64. It is now at the National Museum of Asian Art in Washington, DC.
How it was made
- Ink on paper
- Ink made from soot and animal glue, ground with water on an inkstone. A single brush can give a hair-fine line or a broad wash, and nothing can be corrected.
Sesson Shūkei
ca. 1504–ca. 1589
Sesson was a Zen monk who worked in the provinces of eastern Japan, far from the capital at Kyoto. He admired the ink painter Sesshū and developed a vigorous, highly personal style of monochrome ink painting, marked by windswept landscapes, swirling water and lively figures. His Dragon and Tiger screens show his taste for dramatic movement. He also wrote a short treatise on painting addressed to his pupils.
Written by Ochre Editions.
Rights and the museum’s record
Public domain. The National Museum of Asian Art has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.
- Object number
- F1903.218-219
- Credit
- Courtesy of the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution
- Type
- Painting
- Department
- National Museum of Asian Art
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
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More by Sesson Shūkei
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