Fans and clouds over rocks and water
date: label: Date
content: early 17th century
label: Period
content: Edo period
name: label: Calligrapher
content: Hon'ami Koetsu 本阿弥光悦 (1558-1637)
notes: label: Label
content: Fans decorated with painting and calligraphy are mounted on this painted screen to create the illusion that they are scattered across a silver river. The silver has darkened over time to a nearly black tone. Screens of this type were inspired by the story of a prince and his retinue crossing a bridge in Kyoto. When the prince tossed his fan into the river, the sight was so beautiful that his companions followed suit, tossing their fans and remarking at their beauty as they fluttered toward the water.
label: Label
content: Many screens mounted with painted fans were produced by the Tawaraya atelier headed by the painter Sotatsu. The paintings on the fans and on these screens reflect the distinctive compositions and style associated with Sotatsu and his workshop. For example, the shape, vivid colors, and soft delineation of the rock forms are comparable to the islands in Sotatsu's Waves at Matsushima screens. Eleven of the fans are inscribe with poems in the elegant calligraphic style of Koetsu, whose large, square seal also appears on some of the fans. A master calligrapher and artistic leader, Koetsu often collaborated with Sotatsu on projects combining painting and calligraphy.
label: Provenance
content: To 1903
label: Provenance
content: Bunkio Matsuki (1867-1940), Boston, to 1903 [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1903 to 1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Bunkio Matsuki 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. See Original Screen List, S.I. 57, pg. 19, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.
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 Screens (March 2007 to January 3, 2016)
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese Art in the Age of Koetsu (June 6, 1998 to February 15, 1999)
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: Untitled Exhibition, Japanese Screens, 1957 (March 20, 1957 to March 30, 1960)
label: Exhibition History
content: Untitled Exhibition, Japanese Screens (October 3, 1947 to November 10, 1955)
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese Screens, 1923 (May 2, 1923 to April 5, 1933)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Bunkio Matsuki 松木文恭 (1867-1940) (C.L. Freer source)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
place: label: Origin
content: Japan
topic: label: Topic
content: Edo period (1615 - 1868)
label: Topic
content: water
label: Topic
content: fan
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: F1903.120-121
objectType: label: Type
content: Painting
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Ink, color, gold, and silver on paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (each): 171.2 x 382.2 cm (67 3/8 x 150 1/2 in)