Lonely Fisherman at Autumn River

Accession Number
1983/2.246

Title
Lonely Fisherman at Autumn River

Artist(s)
Kinoshita Itsuun

Object Creation Date
Spring 1852

Medium & Support
hanging scroll, ink on paper

Dimensions
12 5/16 in. x 25 9/16 in. ( 31.3 cm x 64.9 cm )

Credit Line
Museum purchase made possible by the Margaret Watson Parker Art Collection Fund

Subject matter
"The overlapping, expressive brushstrokes on the mountains that fall off into the void give the mountains a more rounded profile populated with vegetation. This is further reinforced by the soft washes of ink that soften the mountains’ surface texture so that they appear more like rolling hills. While the Literati production of landscape relies not on an actual visit-able landscape, , the softer features of the mountains reflect the softer profile of Japan’s mountains in contrast to China’s craggy and dramatic mountain ranges...The artist’s choice of leaving the lake as a very light ink wash sets up a striking play on the relationship between sky and water. More than a possible recognition of a reflection on the placid river, his positioning of the birds just over the water’s surface of the water without shadow or reflection demonstrate a unity of sky and water that suggests a rejection of division."

Nakamura, Chris. “Lonely Fisherman at Autumn River.” Japanese Landscapes, 18 Dec. 2009, japaneselandscape.wordpress.com/literati/literati-prints/lonely-fisherman-at-autumn-river/.



Physical Description
"Lonely Fisherman at Autumn River is oriented horizontally to provide the breadth of the river and emphasizes the softness of the mountains’ width as opposed to an imposing verticality...The main visual cue of the season in the piece is the seasonal poem of autumn, followed to the left by Itsuun’s signature and seal in red in the upper right-hand corner.  A more subtle suggestion of autumn are the birds in a migratory formation just above the surface of the lake... The only separation between the sky and the river in the painting is the tall tree just to the right of the center of the painting that provides a focal point, but even then, the void of the water’s surface leaks into the edge of the mountain, and even lies within the outlines of the village..."

Nakamura, Chris. “Lonely Fisherman at Autumn River.” Japanese Landscapes, 18 Dec. 2009, japaneselandscape.wordpress.com/literati/literati-prints/lonely-fisherman-at-autumn-river/.

Primary Object Classification
Painting

Primary Object Type
landscape

Collection Area
Asian

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form. Keywords
Birds
Figures
Japan
Landscapes
autumn
birds (motifs)
boat
boats
docks
fishermen (people)
fishing
hanging scroll
hanging scrolls
hills
houses
huts
huts (houses)
ink
rivers
trees
water

4 Related Resources

Ink and Realisms
(Part of: Artist Associations and Art Movements)
Japan Pax Tokugawa 1600-1868
(Part of: Empires and Colonialism)
Landscape and Nature, Comparative and Historical
(Part of 3 Learning Collections)
Work and Workers
(Part of 9 Learning Collections)

& Author Notes

Web Use Permitted