Flowers 花木図屏風
date: label: Date
content: 18th century
label: Period
content: Edo period
name: label: Artist
content: Watanabe Shiko 渡辺始興 (1683-1755)
notes: label: School/Tradition
content: Rinpa
label: Description
content: A two-fold paper screen depicting flowers and plants of spring and autumn against a gold ground. In the right panel, from upper right, are: white wisteria blossoms (shiro-fuji), the nadeshiko (dianthus japonicus), a wild chrysanthemum (nogiku), red and white poppies (keshi) and hollyhocks (tachi'aoi).
label: Description
content: In the left panel above the lilies (yuri) and white shrub bushclovers (shirahagi) and below, morning glories (asagao) and the miscanthus reeds (kaya plants) linking the two panels. Further below are Chinese bellflowers (kikyo) and melon (uri). On the lower left of the left panel is a signature, followed by a square intaglio seal.
label: Signatures
content: On the lower left of the left panel is a signature reading "Watanabe Shiko."
label: Marks
content: Adjacent to the signature on the lower left is a square intaglio seal "Shiko no in: Seal of Shiko."
label: Label
content: The brilliant colors and simplified composition of this screen recall the style of the Rimpa school, which flourished from the seventeenth through the nineteenth centuries.
label: Label
content: The artist shows his concern for naturalistic placement of the flowers as though they were growing in a field. Portrayed in realistic detail are white wisteria, pinks, wild chrysanthemums, red and white poppies, hollyhocks, lilies, white bush clover, morning glories, reeds, Chinese bellflowers, and melon flowers. Associated with the seasons of spring and autumn, many of these flowers were also themes of Japanese poetry.
label: Label
content: Watanabe Shiko was born to a samurai family and is said to have studied with both a Kano-school painter and later with the Rimpa-school artist Ogata Korin (1658-1716), although there is no specific record of their association. Both aspects of Shiko's training are apparent in this screen, in which he sensitively combines the Kano-school concern for realistic detail and spatial illusion with the bold approach to design characteristic of the Rimpa-school painting.
label: Provenance
content: To 1903
label: Provenance
content: Yamanaka & Company, to 1903 [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1903 to 1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Yamanaka & Company in 1903 [2]
label: Provenance
content: From 1920
label: Provenance
content: Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]
label: Provenance
content: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [1] Undated folder sheet note. Also see Original Kakemono Reserved List, pg. 22, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. The majority of Charles Lang Freer’s purchases from Yamanaka & Company were made at its New York branch. Yamanaka & Company maintained branch offices, at various times, in Boston, Chicago, London, Peking, Shanghai, Osaka, Nara, and Kyoto. During the summer, the company also maintained seasonal locations in Newport, Bar Harbor, and Atlantic City.
label: Provenance
content: [2] See note 1.
label: Provenance
content: [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.
label: Collection
content: Freer Gallery of Art Collection
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese Art from the Collection (October 26, 2024 - ongoing)
label: Exhibition History
content: Moonlight and Clouds: Silver and Gold in the Arts of Japan (November 11, 2008 to November 11, 2009)
label: Exhibition History
content: East of Eden: Gardens in Asian Art (February 24 to May 13, 2007)
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese Screens (May 9, 1993 to November 13, 1995)
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese Screens (February 11, 1983 to July 19, 1988)
label: Exhibition History
content: Rimpa Screens (October 9, 1980 to December 21, 1981)
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese Lacquer (April 16, 1979 to October 8, 1980)
label: Exhibition History
content: Birds and Flowers of the Four Seasons in Japanese Art (September 14, 1977 to April 8, 1978)
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese Art (July 1, 1974 to April 10, 1978)
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese Art—Painted Screens (August 18, 1967 to May 2, 1973)
label: Exhibition History
content: Special Exhibition—Japanese Art (October 16, 1963 to August 18, 1967)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Yamanaka and Co. 山中商会 (1917-1965) (C.L. Freer source)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
place: label: Origin
content: Japan
topic: label: Topic
content: flower
label: Topic
content: wisteria
label: Topic
content: hollyhock
label: Topic
content: Edo period (1615 - 1868)
label: Topic
content: chrysanthemum
label: Topic
content: lily
label: Topic
content: morning glory
label: Topic
content: Japan
label: Topic
content: poppy
label: Topic
content: Japanese Art
label: Topic
content: Charles Lang Freer collection
setName: label: Related Online Resources
content: Google Arts & Culture
label: See more items in
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Charles Lang Freer
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: F1903.238
objectType: label: Type
content: Painting
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Color and gold on paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (overall): 192.1 x 206.8 cm (75 5/8 x 81 7/16 in)