Summer and autumn flowers 夏秋草花図屏風

Object Details

Label

Grains and vegetables--including corn, eggplant, and taro--are unusual additions to this array of seasonal flowers depicted in an imaginary gardenlike setting. From right to left, the blooming or fruiting plants represent a seasonal progression from early spring (bog rhubarb and kerria) to late summer, when ripe wheat and millet mingle with autumn-blooming flowers such as bush clover and Chinese bellflowers. The convention of depicting seasonal plants arranged against a gold ground on folding screens and sliding paper-panelled doors (fusuma) originated in the Kyoto workshop of Tawaraya Sotatsu (active circa 1600-1640) and became a successful mainstay of that studio's repetoire. One hallmark of the Sotatsu style is the use of overlapping wet pigments that blur at the edges, a technique known as tarashikomi.

Provenance

To 1896

Bunkio Matsuki (1867-1940), Boston, to 1896 [1]

From 1896 to 1919

Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Bunkio Matsuki in 1896 [2]

From 1920

Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

Notes:

[1] Undated folder sheet note. See Original Screen List, S.I. 61, pg. 1, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

[2] See note 1.

[3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

Collection

Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Exhibition History

Sotatsu: Making Waves (Saturday, October 24, 2015 to Sunday, January 31, 2016)

Seasons: Japanese Screens (July 9, 2011 to January 22, 2012)

Previous custodian or owner

Bunkio Matsuki 松木文恭 (1867-1940) (C.L. Freer source)

Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

Credit Line

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

17th century

Period

Edo period

Accession Number

F1896.82

Restrictions & Rights

CC0

Type

Painting

Medium

Color over gold on paper

Dimensions

H x W (overall): 181 x 377.9 cm (71 1/4 x 148 3/4 in)

Origin

Japan

Related Online Resources

Google Cultural Institute

See more items in

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

Topic

plant

flower

autumn

summer

Edo period (1615 - 1868)

Japan

Japanese Art

Charles Lang Freer collection

Record ID

fsg_F1896.82

Metadata Usage (text)

CC0

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ye3e02b243f-a76c-4b67-ad60-5a599bfb0c08