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Lake Biwa in Four Seasons

Nukina Kaioku Japanese
1834
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 225
This depiction of Lake Biwa, Japan’s largest freshwater lake and a celebrated scenic site near Kyoto, unfolds across the four seasons. At the far right, budding flowers and grasses beneath evergreen pines evoke spring. Graceful willows along the shoreline suggest a vibrant summer. The left screen (not on view) shifts to an autumn scene marked by a formation of migrating geese flying toward the stark mountains and bare trees of winter. The idealized landscape reflects Chinese painting traditions. Poems celebrating the seasons unite image and verse. Kaioku’s works are distinguished by a refined, understated elegance rooted in the ideals of literati painting. His subtle use of color modeling to suggest volume and depth in the landscape demonstrates his awareness of Western pictorial techniques.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 貫名海屋筆　 四季琵琶湖図屏風
  • Title: Lake Biwa in Four Seasons
  • Artist: Nukina Kaioku (Japanese, 1778–1863)
  • Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
  • Date: 1834
  • Culture: Japan
  • Medium: Pair of six-panel folding screens; ink and color on paper
  • Dimensions: Image: 24 9/16 × 60 5/8 in. (62.4 × 154 cm)
    Overall with mounting: 67 1/2 × 25 3/8 in. (171.4 × 64.5 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Gift of Robert and Betsy Feinberg, 2016
  • Object Number: 2016.254.1, .2
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

More Artwork

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Autumn Landscape at Eigenji, Nukina Kaioku Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk, Japan
Autumn Landscape at Eigenji
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Armor (<i>Gusoku</i>), Saotome Ietada Japanese, Iron, lacquer, silk, gilt copper, Japanese
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Rough Waves, Ogata Kōrin Japanese, Two-panel folding screen; ink, color, and gold leaf on paper, Japan
Rough Waves
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Saddle (Kura) with Stylized Flowers, Saddle: Gold maki-e with black lacquer decoration:<br/>Pommel: lacquered wood with gold and silver takamaki-e and hiramaki-e on black ground; seat: nashiji (“pear-skin” ground), Japan
Saddle (Kura) with Stylized Flowers
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Saddle: Muromachi period (1392–1573), dated 1491 (Entoku 3); lacquer decoration: Edo period (1615–1868), 17th century
Spring Landscape, Nukina Kaioku Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper, Japan
Spring Landscape
Nukina Kaioku
1844

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