Painting

"Outdoor Amusement"

left center right

(Click on the photograph for a larger image.)

Set of three hanging scrolls
Color on paper
119.5x50.3 (left)
119.2x50.2 (middle)
112.3x46.5 (right)
Edo period

Although preserved in a set of three hanging scrolls, these paintings have probably been remounted at least twice, one previous mounting having been a single-panel screen. The center scroll shows a dancer holding a fan while wearing kosode with patterns on the shoulder and skirt. The woman is encircled by onlookers who are seated on the ground. The spring painting may have been paired with another painting which describes a corresponding autumn scene. The optimistic, care-free facial expressions, typical of Momoyama painting at its zenith are missing from the faces of the people and are replaced by other captivating facial details, such as long-narrow eyes and loosely draped hair. This was probably produced in or around the 1st year of Genna(1615).


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