Ueda Banshū (1869–1952) 
Scene from the South 
Japan, late 1910s 
Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk 
Gift of Terry Welch, 2021 (2021-03-115)

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For most of its centuries-long history, East Asian landscape painting (including in Japan and Korea) was understood to depict Chinese landscapes. Most Japanese painters never traveled to China, and their landscapes were based on inherited traditions, the rare Chinese paintings in Japan, and descriptions in literature. Prior to the modern period, the last significant artist to study directly in China had been Sesshū (1420–1506), and more than three centuries later, his style was still the standard for most landscape paintings. 
 
When Japan’s borders opened during the Meiji period (1868–1912) and it became possible to travel to China, this had a profound impact on tradition. In addition to fresh interpretations of well-established scenes (see Tomita Keisen’s West Lake), artists also began to depict new subjects, in particular genre scenes of rural southern China. Banshū’s Scene from the South is novel not only in this regard, but also in his use of Western-inspired shading to shape a convincingly realistic water buffalo (interestingly contrasted with the traditionally flat oxherd on its back); his light palette of contrasting greens and tans; and his impressionistic brushwork, reminiscent of experiments by other contemporaneous artists at the forefront of modern innovation such as Hirai Baisen (for example, Fishing in the Shade in this exhibition).