Shangri‐La
桃源
- Birth Year
- 1868
- Death Year
- 1939
- Date
- 1927
- Technique, Material, Format
- slight color on paper, hanging scroll
- Dimension
- 132.2 x 33.0 cm
- Donor name
- Ms. Yoshida Kiyoko (formerly owned by Watanabe Mikai [Masao])
- Category
- Nihonga (Japanese-style Painting)
- Inventory Number
- 2017-JP-008
Hara Sankei, a successful Yokohama entrepreneur in the silk reeling and raw silk trading businesses, was known for his interest in painting and calligraphy. While his favorite motif was lotus flowers, he also made pictures depicting his hometown of Gifu and the mountain villages where he traveled, and enjoyed sending them to his friends. All of his works are characterized with soft brushstrokes and gentle colors, and it can be inferred that painting was a source of great pleasure for him. This work was inspired by the scenery he saw in Kawazu, which he had visited in spring from his villa in Izu Nagaoka. The painting was presented to Watanabe Mikai, a haiku poet in Yokohama who knew Sankei. The Chinese poem on the upper right of the image is Sankei’s own work. Combining portions of two Chinese poems he had written previously, it recalls the tranquility of a hot spring resort with peach blossoms blooming.
(UCHIYAMA Junko)