ALLEN MEMORIAL ART MUSEUM 49 THE EIGHT VIEWS OF ŌMI (近江八景 ŌMI HAKKEI) The Eight Views of Ōmi are scenic spots around Lake Biwa in Japan’s Shiga Prefecture. Although traditionally attributed to the nobleman Konoe Masaie 近衛政家 (1445–1505), the earliest known example of what became the standard Eight Views of Ōmi was a set of eight poems by his descendent, Konoe Nobutada 近衛信尹 (1565–1614). The eight scenes combine specific locations around Japan’s largest lake with distinct atmospheric and temporal conditions. A complete set of the Eight Views of Ōmi is shown here, by the renowned and prolific landscape print designer Utagawa Hiroshige I. The scenes are enclosed in shapes that imitate folding fans. In China, paintings on fans were often preserved by mounting them in albums. A Chinese landscape painting in a fan format follows the prints to provide a sense of the original inspiration for these works. Above: Lù Zhì 陆治 / 陸治 (Chinese, 1496–1576) Autumnal Landscape, 16th century Fan paintingmounted as an album leaf, inkwith color on gold-ground paper Mrs. F. F. Prentiss Fund, 1962.44 In this small painted landscape, space becomes ambiguous and full of contradictions. The distance of the mountains is emphasized by their indistinct, mist-shrouded forms, as well as the sudden transition from solid foreground hills and trees to soft, blue peaks. Their coolness is countered by the warm autumn colors in the hills and trees, enveloping the small structures at the lower right. The whole scene is accentuated with gold paper that suggests the glow of dawn or early evening. In reading the inscription, below, we might identify with the tiny figure in a pavilion at the lower right: we imagine ourselves pointing at the mountains, viewing the colorful leaves, and listening to the music of the qín 琴, a seven-stringed instrument in the zither family. Lù Zhì, a native of Suzhou, was a student of the renownedWú school literati paintingmaster Wén Zhēngmíng 文徵明 (1470–1559). Lù has adapted his composition to the curve of the folding fan shape, creating a vista that is both refreshingly intimate and vast. In this rivery land, the scenery has yielded to autumnal changes; I point to the distant mountains across a wide-open space. The verdant hills echo the qín, sending its reverberations far and wide; In the glimpse of redmaples, one sees a world of crystal reflections. Presented to the Elder Sìyě by Lù Zhì —Translation by Ju-hsi Chou Left: UtagawaHiroshige I 初代目歌川広重 (Japanese, 1797–1858) Eight Views of Ōmi, early 1830s Color woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper MaryA. AinsworthBequest, 1950.1226–1232, 1950.1227A Autumnal Landscape (detail)
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