The Second Ode on the Red Cliff Artist: Hashimoto Gahō (Japanese, 1835–1908)

late 19th–early 20th century

Asian Art

By appointment, Wurtele Study Center

This landscape is a visual expression of the well-known poem "Second Ode on the Red Cliff," which was composed by the celebrated eleventh-century Chinese poet Su Shi. Hashimoto Gahō, a teacher of Japanese-style painting (Nihonga) who taught at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts (Tokyo Bijutsu Gakkō), delicately captured the moment in the rhymed prose poem when, on a moonlit night, a crane swooped past Su Shi’s boat as the poet journeyed to the Red Cliff. Gahō executed his painting, or his "visual poem," with tremendous attention to tonal gradations—from the faintest gray of the mist to the darkest black of the foliage and rock.

Medium

Hanging scroll, ink on silk with ivory rollers

Dimensions

without mounting: 11 × 8 3/4 in. (27.9 × 22.2 cm)
with mounting: 44 7/8 × 14 3/8 in. (114 × 36.5 cm)

Credit Line

The Henry Pearson, M.F.A. 1938, Collection, Gift of Dr. Lawrence Dubin, B.S. 1955, M.D. 1958, and Mrs. Regina Dubin

Accession Number

2000.51.3

Geography

Japan

Culture

Japanese

Period

Meiji era (1868–1912)

Classification

Paintings

Disclaimer

Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Provenance
Henry Charles Pearson (1914–2006) Collection, New York; Dr. Lawrence Dubin (1934–2018) and Regina Dubin Collection, New York; gift in 2000 to Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn.
Bibliography
  • Sadako Ohki, "Japanese Art at Yale," Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (2007), 41
Object copyright
No Copyright - United States
Additional information

Object/Work type

hanging scrolls, landscapes (representations)

Subject

cliffs

Marks

Seal "Kokki" (克己?)

Inscriptions

Box writing: lid front "Gahou sensei hitsu Kou Sekiheki zu"; lid inside "Gyokudou Yoshi dai" (written by Kawai Gyokudo (1837-1957), whose given name was Yoshisaburo), one of Hashimoto Gahou's disciples. Lid inside bears a seal "Gyokudou."

Signed

Gahō (雅邦)

Technical metadata and APIs

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