c. 1850

Mount Fuji

Japanese, 1816 - 1867

In this sensitive rendering, wavelike clouds hover over rounded foothills, behind which the steep cone of Mount Fuji rises from a soft mist. Nakabayashi Chikkei uses unpainted silk to form the snow and volcanic steam, while layers of blue and pale pink wash define the sky with a delicacy that American artists James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834–1903) or Winslow Homer (1836–1910) would admire.