Chinese Literatus in an Autumn Landscape

Also known as: Chinese Literati in an Autumn Landscape Accompanied by a Manservant; Chinese Literati in an Autumn Landscape

About the Artwork

In this painting, Sesshū Tōyō’s disciple Sōen depicts a Chinese scholar-official astride a donkey with his attendant behind. Framing their passage on the right side of the scene are two bare willows, and on the left, geese in flight, the cries of which capture the pair’s attention. These elements suggest that the season is late autumn. Sōen, who famously received Sesshū’s 1495 Splashed-ink Landscape as a certificate of his success as a pupil, studied with the master in Suō, presentday Yamaguchi, after which he returned to his native province in the Kanto region.

Inscriptions

Signed: "Sō'en" 宗淵. Sealed: "Josui" 如水; one seal unread.

Provenance

?–2015: George Gund III [1937–2013], bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art 2015–: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Exhibition history

Reeds and Geese: Japanese Art from the Collection of George Gund III. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 21-September 3, 2017).

Quick Overview

Artist: Josui Sōen (Japanese, active c. 1489–1500)
Date: late 1400s
Medium: hanging scroll; ink on paper
Dimensions: Mounted: 111 x 56.2 cm (43 11/16 x 22 1/8 in.)
Type: Painting
Classification: Painting
Department: Japanese Art
Credit line: Gift from the Collection of George Gund III
Accession no.: 2015.467

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.