狩野山卜筆四季花鳥図屏風|Birds and Flowers of the Four Seasons

Kano Sanboku

late 17th century · Pair of six-panel folding screens; ink, color, and gold on paper · Asian Art

The right-hand screen features plum blossoms with other spring flowers growing nearby; farther to the left, the irises of summer are in bloom. Nightingales and cuckoos celebrate both seasons. The left-hand screen depicts autumn and winter, represented by hibiscus, snowy bamboo, a kingfisher, and pheasants. Each screen bears two seals of Kano Sanboku. Little is known about Sanboku except that he was a student of both Kano Sanraku (1559–1635) and Kano Sansetsu (1590–1651), the two great masters of the Kano school’s Kyoto branch. His subdued depiction of the four seasons recalls the art of Sansetsu and is almost devoid of color, shunning the exuberance that appealed to the taste of warrior clients of the early Edo period.

Artist

Kano Sanboku

Date

late 17th century

Medium

Pair of six-panel folding screens; ink, color, and gold on paper

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Purchase, Friends of Asian Art Gifts, 1999