18°th Century Japanese Gold Leaf Screen

This 18th century six-panel screen is truly special. The author is unknown, but his singular genius in portraying dozens of chrysanthemum flowers created with the white of the "gofun...

Japanese Kano School Six Panel Screen: Landscape with Beautiful and Elegant Cranes near the River, with Pines and Sakura. Hand painted with mineral pigments and inks on vegetable pap...

Paravento a sei pannelli di scuola giapponese Kano: paesaggio con bellissime ed eleganti gru vicino al fiume, con alberi di pino e sakura. Dipinto a mano con pigmenti minerali ed inc...

Japanese six-panel screen of the famous "Tosa school" made by an anonymous artist of the mid-18th century, work painted in the classic way with colored pigments and inks on vegetable...

18th century Japanese Screen of a Collection of Fans. Paintings on fans depict famous Japanese painting subjects, this screen was most li...

A pair of six-fold Japanese screens from the 17th century depicting a flock of cranes arriving at their wintering grounds. The expansive scene is heavily atmospheric. The cranes are...

Three Friends of Winter Nakajima Raisho (1796-1871) Late Edo period, circa 1850 Ink and gold leaf on paper. This is a double-sided Japanese Furosaki or tea-ceremony screen from the mid 19th century; bamboo and plum on the front, young pines the back. It by Nakajima Raisho, a master painter of the Maruyama school in the late Edo and early Meiji periods. In this work Raisho combines exquisite ink brushwork with large open spaces of brilliant gold-leaf to inspire the viewers imagination. Rather than naturalism, he is searching for the phycological impression of the motifs, resulting in abstraction and stylization. His simplification of the motifs the result of looking to capture the inner nature of the objects. This art motif is known as Sho Chiku Bai, or the Three Friends of Winter. Evergreen pine connotes steadfastness, bamboo suggests both strength and flexibility, while plum blossoms unfurling on snow-laden branches imply hardiness. Combined, this trio is emblematic of Japanese new year. Chinese literati were the first to group the three plants together due to their noble characteristics. Like these resilient plants flowering so beautifully in winter, it was expected of the scholar-gentleman to cultivate a strong character with which he would be able to show the same degree of perseverance and steadfastness even during times of adverse conditions. The screen would have been placed near the hearth of a room used for the Japanese tea ceremony, shielding the fire from draughts and also forming a stimulating and decorative backdrop behind the tea utensils. It would have been used in the Hatsugama, or first tea-ceremony of the new year. Nakajima Raisho (1796-1871) originally studied under Watanabe Nangaku before entering the school of Maruyama Ozui. He was the highest ranking Maruyama school painter at the end of the Edo period and was known as one of the ‘Four Heian Families’ along with Kishi...

School of Ogata Korin White Chrysanthemums 18th Century, Edo period. A two-panel Japanese screen. Ink, color, gofun and gold leaf on paper. Dimensions: H. 171 cm x W. 188 cm (67.5” x 74”) On this two-panel Japanese screen we see blooming chrysanthemums, a flower which embodies the essence of autumn in Japan. Here the traditional floral theme has been simplified and stylized. The bright colors and asymmetrical composition against the delicate gold leaf create a luxurious and ornate work of art. Its background, a strikingly patinated grid of gold leaf, denies any sense of place or time and imbues everything with an ethereal glow. The leaves and stems of the plants are nothing more than pools of mottled color and ink without any outline whatsoever. These are typical Rinpa adaptations of traditional ink painting methods; tarashikomi, or diluted washes of color blended while very wet, and mokkotsu, or “bonelessness,” which creates forms without exterior outlines. The relief work of the rounded flower petals has been obtained by the moriage process (a mixture based on ground shells modeled on the surface of the paper). On the lower right of the screen, the siganture “Hokyo Korin Jakumyo” and the “Hoshuku” seal can be read. Korin is Ogata Korin, famed for the Irises (Nezu Museum) and Red and White Plum Blossom (MOA Museum of Art) folding screens, both National Treasures. Korin worked in both Kyoto and Edo in the mid-Edo period. Korin was using the art name “Jakumyo” just after he received the Hokyo level, which was in 1701. This particular screen was published in May of 1961 in the Japanese Sansai Fine Art Magazine*. An in depth article accompanies the photograph of the screen and and a photograph of the signature and seal. This article devotes much of its body to discussing the moriage technique, how it enlivens the chrysanthemum flowers and Korin’s specific skill in using the technique. The article goes on to discuss the most famous works of Korin, utilizing this technique, which were known at the time. Specifically a two-panel screen held in the Honolulu Museum which was discovered in the store-house of Takahashi Soan. A two-panel screen pair which the Nakano family own. A two-panel screen pair with chrysanthemums in moriage in fan designs owned by the Nomura family. Also a small folding screen featuring chrysanthemums held in the Yamato Bunkakan. The article goes on to say that this particular two-fold screen came from the Nijo family. Korin is known to have had a strong connection with the aristocratic Nijo family. The article explains that Korin received a lot of favors from the Nijo family and that this screen would have been gifted to them. Since that time the Honolulu screen has been amended to ‘attributed to Ogata Korin’ and I do not know further details of the other 3 screens. Other Chrysanthemum screens...