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Birds and Flowers of the Four Seasons

late 17th century
Not on view
The right-hand screen features plum blossoms with other spring flowers growing nearby; farther to the left, the irises of summer are in bloom. Nightingales and cuckoos celebrate both seasons. The left-hand screen depicts autumn and winter, represented by hibiscus, snowy bamboo, a kingfisher, and pheasants. Each screen bears two seals of Kano Sanboku. Little is known about Sanboku except that he was a student of both Kano Sanraku (1559–1635) and Kano Sansetsu (1590–1651), the two great masters of the Kano school’s Kyoto branch. His subdued depiction of the four seasons recalls the art of Sansetsu and is almost devoid of color, shunning the exuberance that appealed to the taste of warrior clients of the early Edo period.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 狩野山卜筆四季花鳥図屏風
  • Title: Birds and Flowers of the Four Seasons
  • Artist: Kano Sanboku (Japanese, active mid-17th–early 18th century)
  • Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
  • Date: late 17th century
  • Culture: Japan
  • Medium: Pair of six-panel folding screens; ink, color, and gold on paper
  • Dimensions: Image: 59 in. x 12 ft. 1/2 in. (149.9 x 367 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Friends of Asian Art Gifts, 1999
  • Object Number: 1999.204.1, .2
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

More Artwork

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“Takebun,” from the Musical Drama “The New Piece” (Shinkyoku), Pair of six-panel folding screens; ink, color, gold and silver leaf on paper, Japan
“Takebun,” from the Musical Drama “The New Piece” (Shinkyoku)
Japan
early 17th century
Goose and Reeds; Willows in the Moonlight, Maruyama Ōkyo 円山応挙 Japanese, Pair of six-panel folding screens; ink, color and gold on paper, Japan
Goose and Reeds; Willows in the Moonlight
Maruyama Ōkyo 円山応挙
right screen: 1774; left screen: 1793
Willows and Bridge, Pair of six-panel folding screens; ink, color, copper, gold, and gold leaf on paper, Japan
Willows and Bridge
Japan
early 17th century
Irises at Yatsuhashi (Eight Bridges), Ogata Kōrin Japanese, Pair of six-panel folding screens; ink and color on gold leaf on paper, Japan
Irises at Yatsuhashi (Eight Bridges)
Ogata Kōrin
after 1709
Rough Waves, Ogata Kōrin Japanese, Two-panel folding screen; ink, color, and gold leaf on paper, Japan
Rough Waves
Ogata Kōrin
ca. 1704–9

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