Flowers and Trees of the Four Seasons
early to mid-1700s
Watanabe Shikō
Watanabe Shikō (Japanese, 1683–1755)
Japanese Art
Flowers and Trees of the Four Seasons, early to mid-1700s. Watanabe Shikō (Japanese, 1683–1755). Pair of six-panel folding screens; ink, color, gold, silver, and gilding on paper; each screen: 155 x 368.5 cm (61 x 145 1/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2021.132 The painter Watanabe Shikō had a special interest in scientific realism, based on interactions with his patron Konoe Iehiro. Shikō combined his attention to accurate depiction of plants with strong ink outlines and decorative elements like gold and silver, arriving at an innovative style that influenced many of his peers in the city of Kyoto. One plant in these screens, tumeric, or ukon in Japanese, is found in Okinawa.
- Maker/Artist
- Watanabe Shikō
- Classification
- Painting
- Formatted Medium
- Pair of six-panel folding screens; ink, color, gold, silver, and gilding on paper
- Dimensions
- Each screen: 155 x 368.5 cm (61 x 145 1/16 in.)
- Inscribed
- Inscription: 始興之印 Translation: Seal of Shikō Remark: Both screens are impressed with the artist's red seals with characters in reserve.
- Departments
- Japanese Art
- Accession Number
- 2021.132
- Credit Line
- Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund
- Exhibitions
- 渡邊始興 : 琳派の異才 : 大覚寺 障壁画 を 中心に [<em>Watanabe Shikouten : Rin pa no isai : Dai kakuji shōhekiga wo chū shin ni</em>]<em>. </em>Kyōto City Art Museum, Kyōto, Japan (March 18–April 11, 1973)., <em>Edo, Art in Japan 1615-1868</em>. National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC (November 15, 1998–February 15, 1999)., 渡辺始興の絵画 [<em>Paintings of Watanabe Shikō</em>]. Kyoto National Museum, Kyoto, Japan (December 18, 2018–January 27, 2019).
- Rights Statement
- CC0
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