Yueyang Pavilion

Kanō Isen’in Naganobu 狩野伊川院栄信 Japanese

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 230

This diptych of colorful landscapes, meticulously detailed, showcases the expert abilities of Isen’in Naganobu, from the Kano school. The painter transformed famous Chinese poems into evocative imagery suited to his wealthy Japanese clientele.

Illustrating a poem by Du Fu (712–770) about the famed Yueyang Pavilion, the scroll on the right depicts a grand Chinese pavilion by the water’s edge, at which a scholar-official awaits the arrival of a friend. The left-hand scroll shows two men drinking outdoors, a scene inspired by a poem about Dongting Lake by another figure of the Tang dynasty, Li Bai (701–762). Despite the contrast in settings—one refined and serene, the other rustic yet cheerful—both pieces celebrate the pleasure of immersing oneself in nature with friends.

Yueyang Pavilion, Kanō Isen’in Naganobu 狩野伊川院栄信 (Japanese, 1775–1828), Pair of hanging scrolls; ink and color on silk, Japan

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Yueyang Pavilion, Kanō Isen’in Naganobu 狩野伊川院栄信 (Japanese, 1775–1828), Pair of hanging scrolls; ink and color on silk, Japan
Yueyang Pavilion, Kanō Isen’in Naganobu 狩野伊川院栄信 (Japanese, 1775–1828), Pair of hanging scrolls; ink and color on silk, Japan
Yueyang Pavilion, Kanō Isen’in Naganobu 狩野伊川院栄信 (Japanese, 1775–1828), Pair of hanging scrolls; ink and color on silk, Japan
Yueyang Pavilion, Kanō Isen’in Naganobu 狩野伊川院栄信 (Japanese, 1775–1828), Pair of hanging scrolls; ink and color on silk, Japan
Yueyang Pavilion, Kanō Isen’in Naganobu 狩野伊川院栄信 (Japanese, 1775–1828), Pair of hanging scrolls; ink and color on silk, Japan
Yueyang Pavilion, Kanō Isen’in Naganobu 狩野伊川院栄信 (Japanese, 1775–1828), Pair of hanging scrolls; ink and color on silk, Japan

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