Red and White Poppies
The summer motif of red and white poppies arrayed across the gold-leaf surface of the screen is a decorative formula that developed during the seventeenth century and was taken up by various schools throughout the Edo period. An unusual feature of this painting is the pattern of family crests that decorates the lattice fence.
In the lower right corner an inscription by Ogata Kōrin (1658–1716) attributes the work to the court painter Tosa Mitsumochi, who died a century before the celebrated Rinpa artist was born. The attribution, however, is speculative; based on its style, the work probably dates to the early seventeenth century. Nevertheless, the screen reveals the kind of court paintings that Kōrin, famous for formalized depictions of natural themes, had direct access to and would have studied.
In the lower right corner an inscription by Ogata Kōrin (1658–1716) attributes the work to the court painter Tosa Mitsumochi, who died a century before the celebrated Rinpa artist was born. The attribution, however, is speculative; based on its style, the work probably dates to the early seventeenth century. Nevertheless, the screen reveals the kind of court paintings that Kōrin, famous for formalized depictions of natural themes, had direct access to and would have studied.
Artwork Details
- 伝土佐光茂筆 芥子図屏風
- Title: Red and White Poppies
- Artist: Traditionally attributed to Tosa Mitsumochi (active 1525–ca. 1559)
- Period: Momoyama (1573–1615)– Edo (1615–1868) period
- Date: early 17th century
- Culture: Japan
- Medium: Six-panel folding screen; ink, color, and gold leaf on paper
- Dimensions: 65 3/4 in. × 12 ft. 3 1/2 in. (167 × 374.7 cm)
- Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Gift of Mrs. Dunbar W. Bostwick, John C. Wilmerding, J. Watson Webb Jr., Harry H. Webb, and Samuel B. Webb, 1962
- Object Number: 62.36.1
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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Ogata Kōrin
ca. 1704–9
Japan
early 17th century
Ogata Kōrin
after 1709
Japan
early 17th century
Maruyama Ōkyo 円山応挙
right screen: 1774; left screen: 1793
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