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The Uji Princesses (Uji no Miya no himegimi-tachi)

Matsuoka Eikyū Japanese

Not on view

Matsuoka Eikyū depicts these scenes from Genji with arresting clarity, on a monumental scale suitable for the new modern venue of the public art exhibition. Eikyū based the screen at right on a painting from the twelfth-century Genji Scrolls in which Kaoru glimpses the Princesses at Uji. As if to capture Kaoru’s introspective nature, the artist removes him from the role of voyeur, placing him on the veranda of the Uji villa, where he appears to prefer the moon (on the screen at left) to the women inside. The subject matter of the left screen is unclear, but the regal-looking courtier in luminous white robes likely represents Genji, shown amid falling cherry blossoms, visiting the residence of his late wife Aoi before he departs for Suma.

The Uji Princesses (Uji no Miya no himegimi-tachi), Matsuoka Eikyū (Japanese, 1881–1938), Pair of six-panel folding screens; color on silk, Japan

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