Scenes from <em>The Tale of Genji</em>
date: label: Date
content: late 16th century
label: Period
content: Momoyama period
notes: label: Label
content: Formal competitions in composing poetry and painting, as illustrated in this scene from the eleventh-century narrative The Tale of Genji, provided amusement and allowed audiences to admire and critique the creations of fellow aristocrats. Contests had established rules, thematic restrictions, and judges. In the left panel of this folding screen, teams of the Left and Right, representing the court ladies Akikonomu and Kokiden, sit on opposite sides of the room and present the boxes of scrolls they have selected for the contest. The room is shown from above, as if the roof has been removed, a common artistic device in Japanese painting. After debates lasting well into the night, Prince Genji's own painting, based on his long exile at Suma and accompanied by poems that convey his troubled emotions, won decisively over a presentation of older paintings of classical subjects. The moonlit evening ends with courtiers performing a concert.
label: Provenance
content: To 1908
label: Provenance
content: Yamanaka & Company, to 1908 [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1908 to 1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Yamanaka & Company in 1908 [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] See Original Screen List, pg. 38, 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: Painting the Classics: Japanese Screens (November 10, 2018 to October 14, 2019)
label: Exhibition History
content: Games, Contests and Artful Play in Japan (March 19 to October 23, 2005)
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese Screens (February 11, 1983 to July 19, 1988)
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: Momoyama period (1573 - 1615)
label: Topic
content: The Tale of Genji
label: Topic
content: poetry
label: Topic
content: Japan
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: F1908.183
objectType: label: Type
content: Painting
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Color and silver on paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W: 98.4 x 190.5 cm (38 3/4 x 75 in)