An artwork on Galleree from The Art Institute of Chicago.
About the artwork
Autumn Maples with Poem SlipsTosa Mitsuoki
Japanese, 1617-1691
c. 1675
Japan
144 × 286 cm (56 3/4 × 112 5/8 in.)
Six-panel screen (one of pair); Ink, colors, gold leaf, and gold powder on silk
Kate S. Buckingham Endowment
['Japanese (culture or style)']
['trees', 'maple trees', 'autumn', 'fall', 'poetry', 'landscapes', 'gold (color)', 'foliage']
['screen', 'painting', 'asian art']
['silk (textile)', 'gold leaf', 'ink']
['painting (image making)']
['Essentials', 'Arts of Asia 100']
Japanese aristocrats engaged in the elegant custom of recollecting classical poetry while viewing spring and autumn foliage. In these delicate screens, premier court painter Tosa Mitsuoki meditated on the inevitable passage of beauty by depicting the melancholy hours after the departure of reveling courtiers. A cherry tree bursts into bloom on the right screen (seen here at top), while its mate displays the brilliant red and gold foliage of maples in autumn. Slips of poetry, called tanzaku, waft from the blossoming limbs, the lingering signs of a human presence. Courtiers (whose names are recorded in a seventeenth-century document) assisted Mitsuoki by inscribing the narrow strips with quotations of appropriate seasonal poetry from twelfth- and thirteenth-century anthologies. The screens were either commissioned by or given to Tofukumon’in (1607–1678), a daughter of the Tokugawa shogun who married the emperor Gomizunoo (1596–1680). In an era otherwise marked by increasing control of the feudal shogunate over imperial prerogatives, this royal couple encouraged a renaissance of courtly taste that nostalgically evoked the past glories of early medieval aristocratic life.
| attributed to Art Institute of Chicago under CC-By license
In the delicate embrace of spring and autumn, the Japanese aristocrats found solace in a time-honored tradition that wrapped around them like a silken kimono. They gathered beneath the sprawling branches of cherry and maple trees, their hearts intertwined with the verses of classical poetry. The air was rich with the scent of blossoms and the crisp tang of fallen leaves, each moment infused with the bittersweet realization of beauty’s fleeting nature.
Premier court painter Tosa Mitsuoki stood before a magnificent pair of screens, his brush poised like a quill over parchment. With each stroke, he captured the poignant essence of life’s cycles—the joyful revelries fading into the quietude of memory. On the right screen, a cherry tree erupted in a riot of blossoms, a hopeful reminder that beauty can resurface, even after the vibrant laughter has faded. On the opposite panel, the maples donned their fiery robes of red and gold, painting the scene with the melancholic warmth of autumn.
Sprightly slips of poetry, known as tanzaku, slipped from the branches like graceful whispers, remnants of those who once celebrated beneath the trees. Each slender strip held the carefully chosen words of courtiers—names etched in a seventeenth-century document, binding their essence to the art. These aristocrats delicately inscribed quotations from ancient twelfth- and thirteenth-century anthologies, their hands bringing the past alive with every elegant stroke.
These exquisite screens found their home with Tofukumon’in, a daughter born into the Tokugawa shogunate. She married Emperor Gomizunoo, a union that blossomed against a backdrop of political turmoil. As feudal power tightened its grip, this royal couple became treasure bearers of a forgotten era, nurturing a renaissance of courtly taste. They evoked the splendor of earlier medieval lives, illuminating the shadows cast by constraints and forging a connection with a time when beauty knew no bounds.
In quiet reflection, the screens reveal a world where past and present dance together—a meditation on beauty, nature, and the enduring power of story.
About the artist
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