Autumn in Takao (late 1600s): Art, History and Details

Autumn in Takao (late 1600s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Kiyohara Yukinobu (Japanese, 1643–1682).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Kiyohara Yukinobu, a native of Kyoto, studied with Kano Tan'yū (1602–1674), the artist-in-residence to the shogun (military ruler) whose official residence was in Edo (Tokyo). Tan'yū traveled extensively because he bore responsibility for the decorative schema and large mural painting programs of the shogunal castles and residences in Nagoya and Kyoto. These were very large projects, requiring the services of legions of craftsmen, including Tan'yū's painting studio. Following her apprenticeship with Tan'yū, Kiyohara established her own career, which featured classical literary themes of the Heian era (10th–12th centuries). This image is set in autumn, and the poem card attached to the maple tree likely signifies the passage of a love affair. Takao is a popular scenic area in the mountains north of Kyoto, where autumn and spring foliage attracts many visitors.

Object facts

• Title: Autumn in Takao
• Date: late 1600s
• Creator attribution: Kiyohara Yukinobu (Japanese, 1643–1682)
• Culture: Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
• Type: Painting
• Technique: hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
• Dimensions: Painting only: 89.7 x 32.7 cm (35 5/16 x 12 7/8 in.); Including mounting: 170.2 x 49.6 cm (67 x 19 1/2 in.)
• Collection: ASIAN - Hanging scroll
• Department: Japanese Art
• Accession number: 1991.55

A detail from the museum

Kiyohara Yukinobu was one of Japan's earliest and most talented female painters.

Collection credit

Seventy-fifth anniversary gift of Takashi Yanagi

Further reading listed by the museum

• Cunningham, Michael R. "Notable Acquisitions." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 78, no. 3 (1991): 63-147.
• "Memorable Works from Yanagi Takashi." Yanagi: A Family of Art Dealers in Kyoto. Impressions: the Journal of the Japanese Society of America 46 (2025): 174-185.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.