鈴木松年筆 老松図屏風|Aged Pines

Suzuki Shōnen 鈴木松年

late 19th century · Pair of six-panel folding screens; ink on gold-leaf · Asian Art

In East Asian cultures, pine trees are venerated as symbols of longevity and virtue. In both screens on display here, two giant pines, each set against a smoothly gilded background, lean markedly to the left, but the composition is balanced by the branches, which reach toward one another. Flamboyant brushstrokes of coal-black ink define the hefty trunks and spiky needles, resulting in a sense of powerful monumentality. Together with his father, Suzuki Hyakunen, Shonen was one of the leading painters active in Kyoto during the Meiji period. After the country became more open to the West in the second half of the nineteenth century, they made efforts to preserve the subjects and style of traditional Japanese painting.

Artist

Suzuki Shōnen 鈴木松年

Date

late 19th century

Medium

Pair of six-panel folding screens; ink on gold-leaf

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Purchase, The B. D. G. Leviton Foundation Gift, 2003