俵屋宗理筆　朝顔図屏風|Morning Glories

Tawaraya Sōri

18th century · Two-panel folding screen; ink and color on paper · Asian Art

This understated painting of morning glories in various stages of bloom shows a fluent use of Rinpa idioms, such as the mottled-ink (tarashikomi) technique seen in the leaves. Also characteristic of the Rinpa aesthetic is the elegantly spacious arrangement of the morning-glory vine within the horizontal composition. Signed “Hyakurinsai Sōri” and accompanied by a seal reading “Genchi,” of the circular type used by Sōtatsu and Kōrin, this is a Rinpa-style work by an Edo painter who has in the past been mistakenly identified with Hokusai.

Artist

Tawaraya Sōri

Date

18th century

Medium

Two-panel folding screen; ink and color on paper

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

The Howard Mansfield Collection, Purchase, Rogers Fund, 1936