1473
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Birds and Flowers is a 1473 unspecified by Sesshū Tōyō, a Renaissance work, depicting Muromachi Period, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
This painting shows birds and flowers in a natural setting. The scene is divided into two parts, one with autumn flowers and the other with summer flowers. This suggests the artist was depicting different seasons, which was a common theme in Japanese art. You can learn more about similar paintings at the museum where this artwork is housed, The Cleveland Museum of Art.
This is one of two paintings possibly by Sesshū Tōyō. They once flanked a central scroll with an ink landscape. The unbalanced nature of the compositions, however, suggests they may be images recycled from larger paintings. The one with sweet osmanthus and hibiscus is an autumn scene, the other is a summer scene with daylilies and gardenias. Folding screens often contrast two seasons or depict all four across a single pair of screens. Sesshū’s works were sufficiently prized that repurposing them in fragmentary form to display in an alcove of a luxurious room would not be an unusual choice.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Sesshū Tōyō (雪舟 等楊; c. 1420 – August 26, 1506), also known simply as Sesshū (雪舟; Japanese pronunciation: ), was a Japanese Zen monk and painter who is considered a great master of Japanese ink painting. Initially…
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