The Tale of Genji Handscrolls
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.Among the oldest and most revered manuscripts of the tale, the Illustrated Tale of Genji Scrolls is a National Treasure now preserved at the Tokugawa Art Museum in Nagoya and the Gotoh Museum in Tokyo. One of the greatest endeavors in modern times to copy the original Genji Scrolls was carried out by Tanaka Shinbi, renowned for his meticulous hand-painted reproductions of various National Treasures of Japanese painting and calligraphy. Between 1926 and 1935, he worked on a meticulous copy of the Tokugawa scrolls (shown here).
Shinbi earned accolades for his revival and mastery of ancient paper-decoration and painting techniques, long thought to be lost, and had a major impact on Nihonga painters working on traditional themes.
Shinbi earned accolades for his revival and mastery of ancient paper-decoration and painting techniques, long thought to be lost, and had a major impact on Nihonga painters working on traditional themes.
Artwork Details
- 田中親美筆 源氏物語絵巻
- Title: The Tale of Genji Handscrolls
- Artist: Tanaka Shinbi (Japanese, 1875–1975)
- Period: Taishō (1912–26)–Shōwa (1926–89) period
- Date: 1926–35
- Culture: Japan
- Medium: Handscroll; paintings: ink and color on paper; calligraphy: ink on paper with gold and silver decoration
- Dimensions: Image: H. 8 9/16 in. (21.8 cm)
- Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Lent by Tokugawa Art Museum
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art