Yanji with Orchids and Yang Guifei with Peonies

1785

Not on view

Each scroll features a Chinese beauty who is lavishly dressed and exquisitely coiffed in the fashion of a Tang aristocratic lady. Though not identified by the artist, we can safely assume that he intended the beauty eyeing peonies on the left to refer to Yang Guifei (Japanese: Yōkihi), the infamous consort of Emperor Xuanzong (685–792) of the Chinese Tang dynasty, whose beauty was said “to put the flowers to shame.” The court lady with brush in hand, seated at a desk fashioned from a scholar’s stone with potted orchids behind her, is more difficult to identify. However, she is likely Yanji (Japanese: Enkitsu), a low-ranking concubine of Emperor Wen of Zheng who had an auspicious dream of orchids.

Genki is recognized as one of the two most talented artists, along with Matsumura Goshun (1752–1811), to emerge from the circle of Maruyama Ōkyo (1733–1795), the founder of a school of naturalistic painting in Kyoto.

Artwork Details

源琦筆　燕姞・楊貴妃図
Title: Yanji with Orchids and Yang Guifei with Peonies
Artist: Genki (Komai Ki) (Japanese, 1747–1797)
Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
Date: 1785
Culture: Japan
Medium: Pair of hanging scrolls; ink and color on silk
Dimensions: Image (a): 43 3/16 × 21 15/16 in. (109.7 × 55.8 cm)
Overall with mounting (a): 78 7/8 × 27 1/16 in. (200.3 × 68.8 cm)
Overall with knobs (a): 78 7/8 × 29 5/16 in. (200.3 × 74.4 cm)
Image (b): 43 3/16 × 21 15/16 in. (109.7 × 55.7 cm)
Overall with mounting (b): 78 7/8 × 27 1/8 in. (200.3 × 68.9 cm)
Overall with knobs (b): 78 7/8 × 29 5/16 in. (200.3 × 74.5 cm)
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015
Object Number: 2015.300.202a, b
Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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