"Exile to Suma" (Suma) and "A Boat Cast Adrift" (Ukifune)
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.In a scene from Chapter 12 on the right screen, Genji stands out against the muted palette of a desolate seascape at Suma, surrounded by a spring garden of cherry blossoms, peonies, camellias, and azaleas. The scene from Chapter 51, “A Boat Cast Adrift,” on the left screen takes place at Uji and shows Genji’s grandson, Prince Niou, in pursuit of Ukifune. The painting places unusual emphasis on the watchman on a veranda plucking his bow, with three dogs charging out from the property. Both screens feature a courtly protagonist who is conspicuously out of place in rural surroundings. An inscription attributes them to Tosa Mitsunobu, but they are more likely by an artist working in the style of Tosa Mitsumoto.
Artwork Details
- 源氏物語図屛風 「須磨」 「浮舟」
- Title: "Exile to Suma" (Suma) and "A Boat Cast Adrift" (Ukifune)
- Period: Momoyama period (1573–1615)
- Date: 16th century
- Culture: Japan
- Medium: Pair of six-panel folding screens; ink, color, and gold on paper.
- Dimensions: each: 64 1/8 in. × 11 ft. 10 11/16 in. (162.9 × 362.4 cm)
- Classification: Screens
- Credit Line: Lent by Imabari City Kono Museum of Art
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art