Family Gallery: Diving into Screen Paintings: A New Way to Experience Japanese Art

Experience Pine Trees in Room T5 of the Honkan (Japanese Gallery)

Room T5 of the Honkan will feature an installation that allows visitors to experience the world of Pine Trees with all the senses. A high-resolution reproduction of Pine Trees and a semicircular screen five meters in height and 15 meters in diameter will allow visitors to truly feel the scene depicted in this screen painting, complete with a breeze carrying the scent of pines. By sitting of tatami mats in front of the screens, visitors will also be able to view them as they were originally meant to be seen.

 
The installation in Room T5 of the Honkan (conceptional)
 

Pine Trees (right screen; a high-resolution reproduction created by the Tsuzuri Project)
Original: By Hasegawa Tohaku; Azuchi-Momoyama period, 16th century; pair of six-fold screens; ink on paper



About Pine Trees
The original: By Hasegawa Tohaku (1539–1610); Azuchi-Momoyama period, 16th century; pair of six-fold screens; ink on paper; Tokyo National Museum; National Treasure
The reproduction: created in 2008; pair of six-fold screens; printed on washi paper; 156.8 x 356.0 cm per screen
Both the original and the reproduction are held by the Tokyo National Museum.

Pine Trees is a masterpiece of Japanese ink painting that was created when the warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537–98) was unifying Japan under his rule. Although this painting was executed only with lines and gradations of monochrome ink, it succeeds in immersing the viewer in a misty scene with the wind blowing through the pines.
Pine Tree originally featured a larger composition that was later trimmed down and remounted on folding screens to take on its present form. It is possible that the scene preserved today originally included an ocean and mountains in the distance. Japanese paintings with pine groves are often depictions of the Miho pine grove near Mount Fuji or the Amanohashidate sandbar in Kyoto prefecture, yet the setting of Pine Trees remains a mystery. By combining the scene in Pine Trees with their personal memories, visitors can imagine the crashing of waves, feel the damp, seaside air, and even see birds flying among the fragrant pines.

Experience Cranes in Room T4 of the Honkan (Japanese Gallery)

Room 4 of the Honkan will feature a mysterious scene with Cranes as the centerpiece. Visitors will enter the installation to see cranes descending to the ground with wings fluttering. These majestic birds will then enter the scene portrayed in Cranes, which was created by Ogata Korin (1658 –1716), a celebrated artist of the Rinpa school. In this interactive installation, the cranes will move in response to visitors’ movements and the elaborate lighting will bring the beauty of the golden Cranes screens to life.

 
The installation in Room T4 of the Honkan (conceptional)
 

Cranes (left screen; a high-resolution reproduction created by the Tsuzuri Project)
Original: By Ogata Korin; Edo period, 17th–18th century; pair of six-fold screens; gold leaf and color on paper; Freer Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
The reproduction: Created in 2012; pair of six-fold screens; printed on washi paper with applied gold leaf; 166.0 × 371.0 cm per screen; Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum (Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture, a Public Interest Incorporated Foundation)
Facsimiles of works in the collection of the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC: Purchase, F1956.20, F1956.21


About Cranes
Cranes was created within the brilliant culture of the Genroku era (1688–1704). Each flock of cranes in this painting face the same direction, evoking an air of elegance.
Korin was born into a family of merchants who operating a luxury clothing store. Like the stenciled designs on kimono, the cranes in his painting are spaced rhythmically and share similar forms, with just a few cranes in different poses. Although the stylized cranes have a static feel, the golden background shimmers as the viewer moves by the screens, creating the illusion of movement. This illusion is enhanced through the stylized, rather than realistic, depictions of the cranes. In addition to bringing out these inherent qualities of the painting, this installation will create a dynamic scene in which additional cranes enter the golden screens.

“Playing with Folding Screens” Hands-on Corner

“Design Your Own Folding Screen” Worksheet

Worksheets for drawing your own folding screens will be handed out in the gallery.