Gibbons Reaching for the Moon

Kano Tan’yū

Cleveland Museum of Art

Gibbons Reaching for the Moon by Kano Tan’yū Vertical, rectangular painting on beige paper with a group of gibbons climbing a tree branch. The gibbons are drawn in gray ink. Five gibbons are depicted; one at the top left corner looking down, then four hanging vertically in a line from a long branch. The gibbons each have a different posture; some are reaching upward, one is sitting. The gibbons have bushy tails. The background has some gray shading toward top. The painting has a border around the edges. The border appears dark green. There are some Chinese characters written in black ink on the right side.