Parody of the Four Accomplishments
This painting is inspired by one of the most celebrated works of Japanese genre painting: a work known as the Hikone Screen. Illustrated here are the “Four Accomplishments” necessary for well-cultivated gentlemen in ancient China—the musical instrument qin (Japanese: koto), the board game weiqi (Japanese: go), calligraphy, and painting. The Four Accomplishments were a favored painting subject beginning in the Muromachi period (1392–1573) but here appears as a parody—for instance, writing a love letter (or poems) instead of calligraphy.
Zeshin’s reinterpretation, more than two centuries after the original, reconstructs some of the mysterious feel of the Hikone Screen by arranging meaningful-looking figures engaged in various pursuits within the same space. Nevertheless, the eye-pleasing impression has been attained by a careful compositional arrangement in which elements are ordered in a pyramid-like shape toward the center, and by the use of a variety of colors, from vivid to subtle, contrasting with the plain gold background. A few versions of this screen by Zeshin exist, each with distinct variations of the figures and setting.
Zeshin’s reinterpretation, more than two centuries after the original, reconstructs some of the mysterious feel of the Hikone Screen by arranging meaningful-looking figures engaged in various pursuits within the same space. Nevertheless, the eye-pleasing impression has been attained by a careful compositional arrangement in which elements are ordered in a pyramid-like shape toward the center, and by the use of a variety of colors, from vivid to subtle, contrasting with the plain gold background. A few versions of this screen by Zeshin exist, each with distinct variations of the figures and setting.
Artwork Details
- 見立琴碁書画屏風
- Title: Parody of the Four Accomplishments
- Artist: Shibata Zeshin (Japanese, 1807–1891)
- Period: late Edo (1615–1868) or Meiji (1868–1912) period
- Date: second half of the 19th century
- Culture: Japan
- Medium: Pair of six-panel folding screens; ink and color on gold leaf on paper
- Dimensions: each screen: 47 1/2 in. × 9 ft. 4 1/2 in. (120.7 × 285.8 cm)
- Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Fletcher Fund, 1951
- Object Number: 51.89.1, .2
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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Shibata Zeshin
19th century
Shibata Zeshin
19th century
Shibata Zeshin
second half of the 19th century
Shibata Zeshin
Shibata Zeshin
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