Visiting a Friend in Autumn
The water swirls beneath the pilings of the house on the river,
the clouds encircle the mountainsides,
on every branch the red leaves of autumn,
the wooden gate opens to the guests.
Beisanjin's poem and painting
Active in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Beisanjin created spirited works that made a colorful contribution to the late phase of Nanga painting. A rice merchant by trade, Beisanjin associated with the sophisticated aesthetes of Osaka's literati circles, which inspired him to cultivate his avocation of painting. His brusque and seemingly naive brushwork has a certain power that captures the vivacious spirit of Osaka, a flourishing center of commerce and finance. Tanomura Chikuden (1777–1835) wrote that Beisanjin's paintings "are not what one could call technically accomplished, but he made pictures that are like a sudden revelation of nature's meaning within the heart."
the clouds encircle the mountainsides,
on every branch the red leaves of autumn,
the wooden gate opens to the guests.
Beisanjin's poem and painting
Active in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Beisanjin created spirited works that made a colorful contribution to the late phase of Nanga painting. A rice merchant by trade, Beisanjin associated with the sophisticated aesthetes of Osaka's literati circles, which inspired him to cultivate his avocation of painting. His brusque and seemingly naive brushwork has a certain power that captures the vivacious spirit of Osaka, a flourishing center of commerce and finance. Tanomura Chikuden (1777–1835) wrote that Beisanjin's paintings "are not what one could call technically accomplished, but he made pictures that are like a sudden revelation of nature's meaning within the heart."
Artwork Details
- Title: Visiting a Friend in Autumn
- Artist: Okada Beisanjin (Japanese, 1744–1820)
- Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
- Date: ca. 1810s
- Culture: Japan
- Medium: Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
- Dimensions: Image: 53 11/16 x 11 9/16 in. (136.4 x 29.4 cm)
Overall: 72 3/4 x 18 3/8in. (184.8 x 46.7cm) - Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: The Harry G. C. Packard Collection of Asian Art, Gift of Harry G. C. Packard, and Purchase, Fletcher, Rogers, Harris Brisbane Dick, and Louis V. Bell Funds, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, and The Annenberg Fund Inc. Gift, 1975
- Object Number: 1975.268.102
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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Returned to lender
Okada Beisanjin
1816
Okada Beisanjin
1817
Chōbunsai Eishi
early 19th century
Unidentified artist
early 19th century
Sakai Ōho
ca. 1839
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