Nocturne Poetica

Kano Tan’yu has invited us through his masterpiece painting, Landscape in Moonlight (1975.268.50, Metropolitan), to take a momentary glimpse of a dream-like landscape; arranged in a window like triptych presentation. Painted in the Edo period, the paintings portray a landscape scene, in which humans and nature seem to live in symbiosis – boats and houses are viewed amongst depictions of clouds and mountains – yet, neither of these elements are overpowering. To better understand and appreciate Tan’yu’s work, particular attention must be made to its formal characteristics. Of notable interest, and what I hope to do in this paper, is to provide an in depth analysis of the center painting within the Landscape in Moonlight triptych. The painting portrays a landscape featuring a mountain peeping out of a fleecy sea of white clouds under the warm light of the moon. In the bottom register of the painting, an ensemble of boats is viewed drifting over calm water. The landscape is portrayed in a manner of blots and strokes that alludes more as a suggestion rather than a realistic interpretation. Upon first viewing the center painting, what appears to be the most striking element of the piece is its unmitigated simplicity; namely, the lack of colors and the generous placement of white gradations. Nevertheless, the painting, due to its simplicity, emanates a type of serenity and grace that is captivating and allows the viewer’s mind to go almost on a spiritual retreat.

Kano Tan’yu, Landscape in Moonlight Triptych, Edo Period, Japan.

This central image of the triptych is a complete picture in itself and any one, two or three panels together can be similarly viewed as a complete picture. All three images of the triptych combine elements of water, mountains, clouds, mist, and a human presence. In the context of the gallery in which Landscape in Moonlight is found at the Metropolitan, it is found amongst other notable Japanese works such as Gyokuen Bonpo’s Orchids and Rock, Tesshu Tokusai’s Reeds and Geese, Maejima Soyu’s Landscape, and the painting Su Shi (Dongpo) in a Straw Hat and Sandals. Although these works come from other Japanese periods such as the Muromachi and Momoyama, they all share similarities. These particular paintings are in hanging scroll format depicting naturalistic scenes or landscapes in monochrome.

There are also works found in this gallery that are not in hanging scroll format, yet they fit just as insightfully in the gallery; such as a six-paneled screen attributed to Tosa Mitsunobu named Bamboo. Its sheer presence is unmistakable when entering the room with its large size and use of colors; it frames the theme of the room with its array of bamboo. There are also two stone wares, which may at first seem like persona non gratae within the presence of the Japanese paintings; however, upon further examination, their design motifs become apparent as no less than appropriate. Like the hanging scrolls, the stoneware’s depict forms found in nature, namely plants, that are executed in monochrome. The colors, or lack thereof in this gallery serves to act as a unifying force; had vivid colors been introduced alongside these paintings, the works would have looked out of place as colors would serve as a distraction. In Tan’yu’s Landscape in Moonlight, it is placed alone in its own case in order to be enjoyed and fully appreciated in its triptych format (each painting within the triptych is mounted on the same backing, and follows the same dimensions. To place the other scrolls whose silk coloration and mountings are different sizes and shapes would surely detract from the energy conveyed within viewing Landscape in Moonlight alone.

Gallery at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

The painting portrays a landscape featuring a mountain peeping out of a fleecy sea of white clouds under the warm light of the moon. In the bottom register of the painting, an ensemble of boats is viewed drifting over calm water. The landscape is portrayed in a manner of blots and strokes that alludes more as a suggestion rather than a realistic interpretation. Upon first viewing the center painting, what appears to be the most striking element of the piece is its unmitigated simplicity; namely, the lack of colors and the generous placement of white gradations. Nevertheless, the painting, due to its simplicity, emanates a type of serenity and grace that is captivating and allows the viewer’s mind to go almost on a spiritual retreat. 

Kano Tan’yu, One of the triptych's in Landscape in Moonlight, Edo Period, Japan. 

In the center of the painting, is an unmistakable hill or mountain, painted in black ink with a wide brush. The peak of the mountain that rises above the clouds is created using multiple strokes. The thick strokes of ink fluctuate both in thickness and width. Portions of the mountain appear darker than others, indicating thickness of the ink placed on the silk surface, and are separated by visible streaks that indicate individual strokes. There is enough water in the ink to allow the original color of the silk surface to show through. The variance in thickness allows the viewer to readily distinguish the form of each stroke. This variance was caused by the pooling of ink, perhaps due to placement of the brush head, pressure placed on the surface, or the amount of ink drawn into the hairs of the brush. The widths of the strokes vary as well, indicating the amount of pressure the artist placed on the brush through each stroke.

The traces of long thin hair-like lines as it leaves the paper hint at how each stroke was executed; the smooth upper margins of the mountain indicate where the brush touches the paper and the thin traces of ink indicate where the brush hairs trailed off -- just before they were lifted off the surface. These thin traces of ink actually work to create negative space in an intriguing way, giving shape to the clouds that creep up on the mountain. Interruptions of black ink are visible throughout the image, suggesting the mountain’s multifarious shape, and fog or clouds that move along its body. In some sense Tan’yu is willing to sacrifice the form and material appearances of objects.

The individual strokes within the mountain appear in an almost spontaneous manner, free and uncontrolled, bending and curling their way in unpredictable directions to form the body of the mountain. The free and uncontrolled ink lines are reminiscent of cursive script, where form is prescribed by artistic expression. On the left side of the mountain, a few small and prompt brush strokes are seen emitting from the body to form representations of trees and vegetation.

Below the mountain, three boats are seen floating atop water. They are depicted in two different manners; the bottom most boat appearing nearby and the two other distant boats. The bottom most boat is painted with a dry brush (dry pertains to a higher ink to water ratio, whereas wet pertains to a higher water to ink ratio). Using a dry brush, Tan’yu has given this boat crisp and lucid ink lines that clearly discern its stern, hull and sail. In this case, the strokes are highly controlled.   The ink remains thick throughout its stroke, indicated by its darkness and absolute opacity. Yet beyond this, no figures can be readily picked out on the boat, and the painted lines are, similar to those of the mountain, representational of the actual details that form the subject.

Above the bottom most boat, two more boats are painted, but this time in a different manner using a wetter brush to depict two boats off in the distance – they appear translucent against the silk surface of the painting. The strokes, like the bottom most boat, are controlled, yet depict fewer strokes calling attention to its distance from the viewer. The receding boats grow pale, exhibiting a reduced contrast in tone and saturation, and become increasingly less distinct in their details. The effect of distance is obtained by the use of misty lines that gradually disappear. The distant boats have no texture, the boats have no hull; not that they don’t have one, but they appear to have none. The boats have been reduced to pale washes of ink and shrouded in mist, their individual details scarcely apparent, even though the general shape of the boat is retained.

The background is cast in a warm grey hue that was done with the application of a wash, in which large strokes are made to produce an inked surface area. On the top register, the moon is seen as a white circular shape amongst an expanse of light gray hue. The wash is applied in such a way that there is little visual evidence of strokes – just smooth transitions of color that seem to blend in with the material it is painted on. The surface of the painting A darker gradation of gray encapsulates the moon, serving to detail a disparity with its surrounding area; not because the sky appears darker around the moon than any other part of the night sky, but to illustrate that the circular orb in the sky illuminates against a darker sky. This clever use of darker wash around the moon, separates its confusion with it being a sun. (An assumption that is possible upon first viewing, partly due to the lack of colors that would otherwise give a clue to it being either night or day and consequentially, moon or sun.) In addition, if the wash was kept the same watered down, and light colored hue as the greater night sky as seen on the painting, the moon would surely be obscured. It is interesting to note that the night sky is depicted so light, especially for a night scene in which one would expect a darker sky.

As we make our way down the painting from the moon, we come across billowing white clouds. Again, like the matter of the moon, the area immediately surrounding the clouds is depicted in a darker wash, in part to emphasize its presence in the night sky and to create a contrast between light and dark in order not to obscure its presence with the sky. The wash that forms the clouds is subjected to visible contour lines. Making our way down even further, towards the bottom register of the painting, the water is painted in much the same shade of wash the night sky is. There is a break in the wash creating the body of water, illustrating a band of low forming fog that acts to create distance between the closer boats with the two more distant boats. Perhaps the reason why the hue of the water is so similar to that of the sky relates to a concern earlier mentioned – why the sky is depicted to light. Upon studying the washes used for sky and water, the reason becomes clear; they work as a mirrored pair and, had the sky, or even both sky and water been painted black, the harmony and balance of the image would be lost in many respects. The light washes connote a sense of serenity and feminine grace, whereas the central mountain, depicted in dark strokes, is a powerful and masculine image. Had the washes of the night sky and water been the same hue as the mountain, this relationship within the painting would be forfeited.

Close up crop of Landscape in Moonlight

By mere observation, it can be speculated as to the number of brushes that Tan’yu employed in the creation of this work. He used a thick brush for the mountain, thinner brush for the boats and calligraphy and perhaps another to apply the wash.

Color plays an important role in this painting in that it ultimately contributes to the general mood conveyed. The monochrome color scheme evokes the nature of night and serenity. We can see that Tan’yu purposefully chose to produce a gentle variation in tonality through the piece, applying pale tones in both sky and water, to illustrate in as much detail and intricacy as a full color painting would. Of particular noteworthiness, Tan’yu had to pay particular attention to the tonality to convey the sense of night and to steer away from obscuring objects, such as the moon or boats. Strange as it may seem, different colors can be most vividly suggested in black, and in fact, they are often more vivid and graphic than in actual color. The painting is fully appreciated by recognizing the subtle beauty and different degrees of intensity in the blackness of the ink; suggestive of action, texture and color. There is an inexpressible something in the quality of black lines and masses.

Tan’yu places great admiration to the value of the blank space, after all he only used black ink to create the entire image; the white ‘pigment’ on the painting was created by the color of the silk. His greatest achievement in this painting of effectively using the blank space is in expressing the charm of mist; the enchanting effect of light upon the mountainside seen through the veil of mist and the perceived distance of boats obscured by mist.

The focal point is focused on the center of the image, dominated by the presence of a dark mountain peering above clouds amongst an image of light washes and subdued hues of black. The sky and water are mirrored in their composition – around the same regional size and hue. Similarly, the moon in the night sky balances the boats on the water. The fact that the boats don’t dominate the painting is a clear implication of harmony with nature and the beauty within balance. Even the artist’s signature and stamp seem to be harmonically balanced in the painting. His signature is found in the bottom register of the painting that mimics the vertical form of the painting itself; their placements over the water seem to make it appear as if it was a part of the landscape. The small size of the calligraphy follows along the same elegant and understated overtones exhibited by the painting. 

The color and weaves of the painting provide good clues to the surface material it is made of; tightly woven silk that would feel smooth if one were to run his or her hand over it. The quality of brush strokes on the surface is another indication of the smoothness and density of the textile. It appears to readily absorb the washes while also being versatile enough to accommodate dry ink strokes without any observable bleeding or fading.

Kano Tan’yu makes effective use of the brush, with the power to suggest gradation of colors and texture in black monochrome. The landscape is full of strength and poetry; his painting has a depth and character. In this work, Tan’yu exhibits his talent in composition, in the sense of balance and harmony created by the contours of the clouds and hilltop and the directions of the boats. He has succeeded in conveying the tranquility of night and a certain fragrance of the atmosphere.