View from Mount Asama in Ise 1930

Fujishima Takeji created this oil-on-canvas painting, View from Mount Asama in Ise, sometime between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The visible brushstrokes and muted color palette draw our attention to the materiality of the paint itself. We can imagine Fujishima standing before the scene, palette in hand, quickly layering the oil paint onto the canvas to capture the fleeting light and atmosphere. The very act of painting, with its traditions of observation, draftsmanship, and the mixing and application of pigments, brings its own cultural baggage. Here, we see the artist working within a Western tradition, yet interpreting a distinctly Japanese landscape. This fusion of techniques and subject matter speaks to the cross-cultural exchange of ideas in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Ultimately, this work reminds us that even in the most seemingly straightforward depictions of nature, materials and making shape how we perceive the world.