Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
“Channel Markers” (Miotsukushi) and “The Barrier Gate” (Sekiya)
Tawaraya Sōtatsu Japanese
Not on view
This pair of screens has long been considered a masterpiece within the history of Japanese art. Most notably, they reveal an artist freely reinterpreting the tradition of Genji painting, not merely by adapting miniature-style painting to large-format screens but also by transforming the visual language of Genji illustration through simplification, clear-cut geometry, and an emphasis on materiality. Each episode represents a chance encounter between Genji and a former lover, and both scenes employ gates related to travel and pilgrimage, which perhaps led to their pairing here. Recent research shows that the screens were made in 1631; as one of only two securely dated works by Tawaraya Sōtatsu, they are crucial for understanding the artist’s still relatively enigmatic biography.
Genji writes to the Akashi Lady:
みをつくし恋ふるしるしにここまでも
めぐりあひけるえにはふかしな
The channel markers show
how far love has taken us,
and how I’ve given fully of myself
since fate brought us together
because of our deep karmic ties.
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.
