Birds and Flowers

This pair of screens depicts no fewer than fifteen species of birds and at least twenty different plant types, all associated with summer and early fall. The genre of bird-and-flower painting was established in China, where many plants and animals have served as symbols for noble virtues. Although that symbolism was employed by Japanese artists as well, recent scholarship has suggested that these screens communicate a more specifically Buddhist message: the abundant life forms and otherworldly gold sky refer to Paradise as described by the Pure Land school of Buddhism. Indeed, screens such as these were occasionally displayed in Japanese Buddhist temples.

The artist, Kano Shōei, belonged to the Kano school of painters, an artistic group composed of Kano male relatives as well as talented students who were granted the family name. The Kano school provided paintings for temples and palaces in Japan’s capital cities for generations. The artists prided themselves on their knowledge of Chinese painting styles, which they adapted for Japanese tastes.