Cleveland Museum of Art

Birds and Flowers

Sesshū Tōyō

Date

mid-1400s-early 1500s

Medium

Hanging scroll from a triptych; ink and color on silk

Culture

Japan, Muromachi period (1392–1573)

Department

Japanese Art

Institution

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.

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