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Boats upon Waves

Studio of Tawaraya Sōtatsu Japanese
mid- to late 17th century
Not on view
This work relates closely to a pair of screens by the celebrated early seventeenth-century Kyoto painter Sōtatsu depicting Matsushima, a scenic locale near Sendai in northern Japan named after its tiny islands dotted with pines. The present screen echoes Sōtatsu’s earlier composition with its gold-filled cloud formations and its rocks in vibrant shades of brown, blue, and green. However, growing from the rocks are maple trees with autumnal leaves, not pines, and newly introduced are two empty boats adrift on gently rolling waves. These details generate a somber, mysterious atmosphere.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 波に舟図屏風
  • Title: Boats upon Waves
  • Artist: Studio of Tawaraya Sōtatsu (Japanese, ca. 1570–ca. 1640)
  • Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
  • Date: mid- to late 17th century
  • Culture: Japan
  • Medium: Six-panel folding screen; ink, color, and gold on paper
  • Dimensions: 61 1/8 in. × 11 ft. 9 3/4 in. (155.2 × 360 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Gift of Horace Havemeyer, 1949
  • Object Number: 49.35.3
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Red and White Poppies, Tawaraya Sōtatsu Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper, Japan
Red and White Poppies
Tawaraya Sōtatsu
17th century
White Heron, Tawaraya Sōtatsu Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink on paper, Japan
White Heron
Tawaraya Sōtatsu
early 17th century
White Hollyhocks, Tawaraya Sōtatsu Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper, Japan
White Hollyhocks
Tawaraya Sōtatsu
17th century
Royal Visit to Ōhara, from The Tale of the Heike, Tawaraya Sōtatsu Japanese, Pair of six-panel folding screens; ink and color on paper, Japan
Royal Visit to Ōhara, from The Tale of the Heike
Tawaraya Sōtatsu
first half of the 17th century
Nine Scenes from The Tale of Genji, Tawaraya Sōtatsu Japanese, Eight-panel folding screen; ink and color on gilt paper, Japan
Returned to lender
Nine Scenes from The Tale of Genji
Tawaraya Sōtatsu
early 17th century

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