Masterpieces of Japanese Screen PaintingThe American Collections

Masterpieces of Japanese Screen Painting unites thirty-seven extraordinary Japanese screens in American collections. Together they represent the most important artists and schools of screen painting, and provide a balanced overview of the formats and techniques used and the wide range of subjects depicted. The works in this volume were created during the greatest eras of screen painting: the Muromachi period (1392-1573), when monochromatic ink painting came to be regarded as the only medium worthy of an important artist; the Momoyama period (1573-1615), the "golden age" of screen painting; and the Edo period (1615-1868), one of the most artistically prolific eras in history. In her Introduction and Commentaries on each screen, Dr. Miyeko Murase explores the functional and decorative roles that screens, which had originated in China, established in Japan. Screens of varying sizes had always been traditional features of domestic design, as they were used to create private spaces in the typical Japanese loft-like interior. Later, feudal lords, eager to decorate their castles in a sumptuous manner that would publicly convey their wealth, commissioned artists to paint on a large scale with brilliant colors, as well as with generous amounts of gold and silver leaf. Dr. Murase also discusses the wide range of images depicted. Artists represented events of famous festivals, scenes from the ancient Confucian theme of the "Four Gentlemanly Accomplishments," and episodes from The Tale of Jenji, one of the best loved stories in Japanese literature. Yet the most popular subjects remained well within Japanese tradition: images of nature, landscapes, flowers and birds and other wild animals. This volume's oversized format was specially designed to suit the impressive size and magnitude of the screens. Thirteen screens are reproduced on gatefold pages, which measure over four feet wide when fully opened. Several screens are published here for the first time; all are reproduced in color, with the gold carefully printed, in order to capture their glowing, glorious hues.