Travelers in a Winter Landscape

Yosa Buson

1770s

Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk

Seattle Art Museum

A winter landscape painting depicts travelers on horseback traversing a path through misty mountains and sparse trees. The scene is rendered in a traditional East Asian ink wash style. A winter landscape painting depicts travelers on horseback traversing a path through misty mountains and sparse trees. The scene is rendered in a traditional East Asian ink wash style. Here is a typical scene in literati painting: a scholar on horseback is traveling with his attendant among mountains in a wintry landscape. The painter, Yosa Buson, was one of the key figures in the development of literati painting in Japan. Following the tradition in China, Buson did not intend to portray a specific landscape here but rather an embodiment of his state of mind or a poetic allusion. Mary Arrington Small Estate Acquisition Fund Object n