Irises screen

Irises(紙本金地著色燕子花図,shihonkinji chakushoku kakitsubata-zu)is a pair of six-panelfolding screens(byōbu) by the Japanese artistOgata Kōrinof theRinpa school.  It depicts an abstracted view of water with drifts ofJapanese irises(Iris laevigata).  The work was probably made circa 1701–1705,in the period of luxurious display in theEdo periodknown asGenroku bunka(Genroku-era culture).
The screens were housed for over 200 years by theNishi HonganjiBuddhist temple inKyoto.  They are now held by theNezu Museum, and they are aNational Treasure of Japan.
A similar pair of screens made by Ogata Kōrin about 5to 12years later depicting irises is held by theMetropolitan Museum of ArtinNew York City.  All four Irises screens were displayed together for the first time in almost a centuryin 2012 at the"Korin: National Treasure Irises of the Nezu Museum and Eight-Bridge of The Metropolitan Museum of Art"exhibition at theNezu Museum.
Both screens are inspired by an episode inThe Tales of Ise.In turn, copies of the screens are believed to have influenced thepost-impressionistpaintings ofVincent van Gogh, including hisIrises.
The screens are among the first works of Japanese painter and lacquererOgata Kōrinafter he attained the rank ofHokkyō(法橋, “Bridge of the Dharma”), the third highest rank awarded to artists. It depicts bunches of abstracted blue Japanese irises in bloom, and their green foliage, creating a rhythmically repeating but varying pattern across the panels. The similarities of some blooms indicate that a stencil was used.  The work shows influence ofTawaraya Sōtatsu. It is typical of a new artistic school,Rin-pa(琳派), which takes its name from the last syllable of his given name.
Kōrin adopts a very restrained palette, limited to theultramarineblue of the flowers, the green of their foliage, and the gold background.  The work was painted with ink and colour on paper, with squares ofgold leafapplied around the painted areas to create a shimmering reflective background reminiscent of water.  The deep blue was made from powderedazurite(群青,gunjō).
Each six-panel screen measures 150.9 by 338.8 centimetres (59.4 in × 133.4 in).  The screens were probably made for theNijō family, and were presented to theNishi HonganjiBuddhist temple inKyoto.  They were sold by the temple in 1913.
Kōrin made a similar work about 5to 12years later, another pair of six-panel screens, known asIrises at Yatsuhashi (Eight Bridges)(八橋図屏風,Yatsuhashi-zu Byōbu).  This second pair of screens has been held by theMetropolitan Museum of ArtinNew York Citysince 1953, and were last displayed in 2013.
The second pair of iris screens, circa 1710–1716, was also painted with ink and color on gold-foiled paper, and measure 163.7 by 352.4 centimetres (64.4 in × 138.7 in) each.
Unlike the earlier pair of iris screens, this later pair includes a depiction of an angular bridge, a more explicit reference to the literary work that inspired both artworks.
Both pairs of screens are inspired by an episode inThe Tales of Ise, where the unnamed protagonist of the story (most likelyAriwara no Narihira) encounters the flowers near a rustic eight-plank bridge over a river. He was inspired to compose a romantic poem, a form ofacrosticwhere the first syllable of each line spells out the Japanese word for iris,かきつばた(kakitsubata):
The screens clearly influenced theIrisespaintings byVincent van Gogh: he could never have seen the originals, which were still in Japan, but they were reproduced as woodcuts in a collection, theKōrin Hyakuzu Kōhen.