Object Details
- Label
- This painting does not represent a specific place, but is an appreciation of nature and the seasons of spring and autumn. The artist has selected one season for each screen. Such balanced compositions representing two or four seasons were a common subject of Japanese painting, especially in the screen format.
- Little is known about the artist, Genga, who is identified by a seal in the lower left and right corners of these screens. Known paintings by this artist are predominantly of flower-and-bird subjects, and they include both ink paintings and more brilliantly colored examples like these screens, which are the largest known pair by Genga. This pair of screens is an important example of large-format fully colored painting of the Muromachi period, which has become better known over the past two decades through the discovery in Japan of several fine examples.
- Collection
- Freer Gallery of Art Collection
- Exhibition History
- Japanese Art from the Collection (October 26, 2024 - ongoing)
- Seasons: Japanese Screens (July 9, 2011 to January 22, 2012)
- Japanese Screens (March 2007 to January 3, 2016)
- Japanese Screens (May 9, 1993 to November 13, 1995)
- Autumn Colors (October 19 to December 20, 1984)
- A Decade of Discovery: Selected Acquisitions 1970-1980 (November 9, 1979 to May 22, 1980)
- Birds and Flowers of the Four Seasons in Japanese Art (September 14, 1977 to April 8, 1978)
- Japanese Art—Painted Screens (August 18, 1967 to May 2, 1973)
- Data Source
- Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
- Artist
- Genga (active early 16th century)
- Date
- ca. 1520
- Period
- Muromachi period
- Credit Line
- Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
- Medium
- Ink, colors, and gold on paper
- Dimensions
- H x W: 145.5 x 314.4 cm (57 5/16 x 123 3/4 in)
- Type
- Painting
