This impressive pair of screens depicts an imaginary scene in China of a waterfall and lake set among craggy mountains. On the right screen, three Chinese gentlemen-scholars enjoy tea. The left screen features a sumptuous mansion with covered corridors; a pavilion stands atop stone masonry. Scholars are seated inside the pavilion, while the lady of the house and two maidservants are seen in other parts of the building. More scholars approach the house on foot or by boat. The artist of this screen, Mori Shūhō, was the elder brother of a better-known artist, Mori Sosen (1747–1821), a renowned painter of monkeys. Shūhō incorporated the orthodox Kano style of painting (evident in the brush technique) with a newly learned Western style, apparent in such details as the low-dipping foreground, which creates a strong sense of distance. Such divergent features forecast the complex developments that were to characterize the artistic movements of the nineteenth century, immediately following Shūhō's death.
