Yang Guifei Playing a Flute 1636 - 1713

Kano Tsunenobu painted 'Yang Guifei Playing a Flute' using ink and color on silk in Japan. The composition features a slender, vertical orientation. The artist uses soft lines and muted tones, to give the figure an ethereal quality. Notice the rhythmic flow of the robes which contrasts with the precise lines of the flute. This work is an interpretation of Yang Guifei, a concubine in the Tang dynasty who was celebrated for her beauty and musical talent. Tsunenobu’s formal decisions allow us to examine the interplay between representation and cultural ideals. The artist presents not just an image, but a commentary on beauty, culture, and the idealized past through visual form. Consider how Tsunenobu manipulates shape, line and space to suggest a narrative and invite ongoing dialogue between past and present.