Collection Online
Orchid pavilion gathering

Orchid pavilion gathering
(Ranteikyokusuizu 蘭亭曲水図)
1778

Medium
ink on silk

Measurements
115.0 × 58.6 cm (image and sheet)

Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased with funds donated by The Yulgilbar Foundation, 2010

Gallery location
Not on display

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Artwork Details

Place/s of Execution
Japan

Inscription
inscribed in brush and ink u.r.: 安永七戊戌春 / 曾我蕭白
stamped in red ink u.r.: 蕭白

Accession Number
2010.112

Department
Asian Art

This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of The Gordon Darling Foundation

Physical description
In Soga Shōhaku’s majestic mountain landscape we find gatherings of figures enjoying poetry writing games and philosophical discussion. One group of picnicking participants sits upstream composing several lines of verse. Their incomplete poem floats downstream, with a cup of rice wine, to be completed by a second group of participants. Shōhaku’s stylised clouds, rock formations, tiny figures and variety of trees, brushed with gestural precision onto silk, reveal his unique innovations in Japanese painting and design.