Flowering Plants of Summer and Autumn
Sakai Hōitsu, 1821
This pair of two-panel folding screens, painted by Sakai Hōitsu and probably dating from around 1821, belongs to the Rinpa school. Hōitsu was a highly regarded painter who revived the manner of Ogata Kōrin, an earlier master of the same tradition. What makes the work unusual is its support: Hōitsu painted on the reverse of Kōrin's screens depicting the wind and thunder gods, Fūjin and Raijin, which belonged to his family. On the back of the thunder god, summer plants seem refreshed by a sudden shower and a swollen river; on the back of the wind god, autumn plants sway while red ivy leaves are blown by a strong gust. The screens use ink and colour on silver and gold-leaf paper, and Hōitsu's authorship is not disputed. He is especially admired for tarashikomi, a method in which a second layer of paint is applied before the first has dried, a technique refined by Sōtatsu. Today the two sides have been separated to protect them from damage, and the screens are held by the Tokyo National Museum, which displays them only occasionally.
- Painter
- Sakai Hōitsu
- Date
- 1821
- Dimensions
- 164 × 182 cm
- Museum
- Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo