62.98.2 on view Installation 1, February 2–May 15, 201362.98.3 on view Installation 2, May 11–July 28, 2013Although traditionally it was common to paint entire scenes directly onto folding screens, alternatively, an allover design could be painted on the panels, to which small fans or albums of painting or calligraphy would then be attached. Each panel of this pair of screens (only one of which is shown here) contains both a painted scene in a fan-shaped cartouche and a sheet of calligraphy, in an arrangement made at an unknown date. The twelve scenes of birds and flowers present a progression of the characteristic flora and fauna of the four seasons. Six pairs of shikishi (poem cards) contain verses on the theme of plums in winter, which were composed and inscribed by six Chinese scholars, including Huang Yuanxu, who dated his piece to autumn 1553.
