Bamboo in the Four Seasons

The traditional Chinese subject of bamboo has long been represented on folding screens in Japan. For instance, waka poems on the topic appear in byōbu-uta (literally, “screen poetry”), an art form that flourished around the year 1000, and gold-ground images of bamboo figure as “paintings within paintings” in Buddhist icons of the Kamakura period (1185–1333).

The theme receives a distinctly Japanese interpretation in this rendering of the four seasons—among the highlights of the Packard Collection’s paintings. Mature stalks, leafy young plants, and tapering shoots are arranged in loose clusters, while violets and shepherd’s purse bloom near the bases of the taller stalks. Moving right to left, the seasons progress from spring to winter, yet the graceful, windswept young bamboo branches unify the composition. The tallest specimens extend beyond the frame, while younger stems are cropped by the picture’s lower border. The artist blended traits of different bamboo species for decorative effect.