Chrysanthemums and Bamboo
painter
Unknown
Date17th century
Place MadeJapan, East Asia
MediumFour sliding doors (fusama); mineral pigment and gold leaf on paper
Dimensions167 x 93.5 cm (65 3/4 x 36 13/16 in.)
ClassificationsPaintings
Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Accession numberP20e3.1-4
Status
Not on viewWeb CommentaryThese sliding doors are painted on both sides and were originally set into two parallel tracks in a Japanese building. The side that Isabella Stewart Gardner chose to display is a scene of chrysanthemums growing on a bank beside a stream. Heavy clouds of mist in gold leaf provide the background for the white of the flowers and the dark green of the leaves. On the other side, slender bamboo in sparse and thick groups stretch along the foreground. There is a graceful rhythm to the thin stalks and the sharp, spritely leaves. Both chrysanthemums and bamboo are recurrent themes in Japanese screen painting. The chrysanthemums on this screen likely appealed to Isabella Stewart Gardner who grew the prize winning autumnal blooms in the greenhouses at Green Hill, her residence in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Id719208
Last Updated8/14/24
EmbARK ObjectID13417
Previous NumberP20w5.a-c
Previous NumberP20e3.a-d
Original NumberP20w5-s
Source ID2350
