This is one of a pair of folding screens illustrating two of the fifty-four chapters in The Tale of Genji, a narrative composed in the early eleventh century by a lady of the court known as Murasaki Shikibu. This fictional biography of Prince Genji, whose life was filled with romance and tragedy, was a frequent subject of Japanese paintings.
This screen represents chapter four, "Yugao," named for the flowering vine that trails from the roof of a modest house wherein the beautiful resident is known only by the name of the same flower. Here Prince Genji's attendant receives a yugao blossom upon a fan, while the prince waits outside in his carriage.
The painter Kano Naonobu chose monochromatic ink and thin color washes for a theme that was more commonly illustrated in lavish color and gold. The dreamlike effect of the mists and washes is poetically evocative of the mood of each episode. Naonobu was an official painter who served the Tokugawa shogun.
Collection:
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Exhibition History:
Painting the Classics: Japanese Screens (November 10, 2018 to October 14, 2019)
Japanese Screens (February 6 to August 19, 2013)
Japanese Screens (February 11, 1983 to July 19, 1988)
Japanese Art (July 1, 1974 to April 10, 1978)
Japanese Art—Painted Screens (August 18, 1967 to May 2, 1973)
Japanese Art, Galleries 3, 4, and 5 (January 1, 1963 to September 16, 1970)
