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狩野永納筆　唐子遊図屏風|One Hundred Boys by Kano Einō (Japanese, 1631–1697)

Kano Einō (Japanese, 1631–1697) · 17th century

This is 'One Hundred Boys,' a pair of six-panel folding screens by the Japanese painter Kanō Einō, made around 1700. It lives at the museum as a vibrant, gilded wish.

The screens show a garden teeming with boys at play. They climb pine trees, carry banners, and gather around a rooster. The chaos isn't random; every boy represents a hope for a healthy, prosperous future. The few women watching near the pavilion anchor the scene in an aristocratic household's supervised celebration.

Works like this were often commissioned to mark a child's first New Year. The imagery of 'one hundred boys' is an auspicious Chinese theme adopted in Japan to symbolize the family's longing for continuity, success, and a lineage that endures. Kanō Einō inherited the role of head of the Kyō-ganō school from his father and devoted part of his life to compiling 'Honchō Gashi,' the first serious history of Japanese painting.

It's a gift that keeps speaking: a father's tenderness and hope for a tiny child, transformed into a shimmering panorama of life.

Details

Boys running, climbing, flying kites.
Boys running, climbing, flying kites.
Women watch from the edges of the garden.
Women watch from the edges of the garden.
The painter's own father and grandfather were masters.
The painter's own father and grandfather were masters.
He wrote Japan's first art history book.
He wrote Japan's first art history book.
A scholar's hope for his new son, set in gold.
A scholar's hope for his new son, set in gold.
Transcript

It looks like a celebration of pure chaos. Boys running, climbing, flying kites. Women watch from the edges of the garden. This was likely a gift for an infant's first New Year. Every boy is a wish for prosperity and long life. The painter's own father and grandfather were masters. He wrote Japan's first art history book. A scholar's hope for his new son, set in gold.