Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
“A Boat Cast Adrift” (Ukifune)
Sata Yoshirō Japanese
Not on view
Sata Yoshirō’s long engagement with copying sections of the National Treasure Genji Scrolls no doubt inspired him to create this screen of Chapter 51, “A Boat Cast Adrift.” The most common depiction of this episode, established by the seventeenth century, shows Ukifune and Niou in a boat on the Uji River, near a small island in the snow. Sata eliminates the landscape details and focuses on the couple drifting with the current under the reflection of the moon. The Uji River is shown in white, its current captured with ink lines, and the figures glow under the golden moonlight. Close examination of Ukifune’s striking long hair reveals the subtle yet effective accents of ultramarine mineral pigment in the black ink.
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