Album of Fan-Shaped Paintings of Figures, Birds and Flowers

This album preserves a marvelous selection of miniature and meticulously brushed paintings of the variety Kano Tsunenobu became famous for. He was the quintessential chronicler of the history of East Asian painting styles, and this compilation serves as an excellent record of the reception of Chinese and Japanese painting styles in early modern Japan.

Kano Tsunenobu is recognized as the last of the great four Kano painters, a roster that also includes masters of the previous generations: Kano Motonobu (1434–1530), Kano Eitoku (1534–1590), and Kano Tan’yū (1602–1674). Though it began as an atelier specializing in Chinese-style painting (kanga), Kano adherents in both Kyoto and Edo also inherited and preserved the traditions of Japanese-style painting, as demonstrated here by several of the exquisite paintings here on indigenous genre themes or a scene from The Tale of Genji.

Pictorial topics here include: Monkey kyōgen performances (猿狂言); Chinese lion and peonies (唐獅子牡丹); Monkey on a deer (鹿乗猿); Fish and waterweeds in a lotus pond (蓮池魚藻); Officers with horses (郡馬高官); Small bird and mortar (擂鉢小禽); Gourd and mice (瓜鼠); Millet and quail (粟鶉); Scene from The Tale of Genji (源氏 絵); Deer and autumn foliage (紅葉鹿).