式部輝忠筆　夏秋花鳥図|Birds and Flowers of Summer and Autumn

Shikibu Terutada

mid-16th century · Pair of hanging scrolls; ink and color on paper · Asian Art

The hollyhocks and lilies of midsummer blooming in the right scroll are countered in the left by flowers of late summer and autumn—cotton roses, chrysanthemums, and eulalia grass. The profusion of detail is characteristic of the art of Shikibu Terutada, a prolific painter active in the Kantō region of eastern Japan. Although his many extant works reveal a familiarity with Kano-school styles and compositions, Terutada is thought to have begun his career emulating the style of Kenkō Shōkei (active before 1478–ca. 1523), the central figure of painting circles in late medieval Kantō. The pair of black-backed wagtails flying at the upper right and the oriole standing sentinel at the left, for example, are identical to motifs found in paintings by Shōkei and his numerous followers.

Artist

Shikibu Terutada

Date

mid-16th century

Medium

Pair of hanging scrolls; ink and color on paper

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015