“Cypress Trees”
Today, we have a gorgeous Japanese landscape.
“Cypress Trees” is an eight paneled Japanese folding screen that was made by the Japanese artist, Kanō Eitoku, in approximately 1590. This gorgeous art piece is made of ink and gold leaf on paper. It was deemed a National Treasure in Japan, as one of the country’s most precious cultural properties and one of the few pieces remaining from Kanō Eitoku.
In this piece, Eitoku paints several cypress trees in the foreground on a piece of land overlooking a mountain scene. In Japan, cypress trees are not native. However, their fragrant wood made them a status symbol and they were planted by families with wealth. The trees dominate the scene, with their immense brown trunks speckled with lichen and their sprawling limbs reaching out into the landscape. Mountain peaks are painted emerging from golden clouds with their bases sitting in dark blue water. The clouds consist entirely of gold leaf, which fills in most of the background. With only several colors, Eitoku creates a vast and full scene emanating with rich colors.
This scene painted on paper was not made for a folded screen. It was originally located on a shoji, a room or window divider used to give intimacy and beauty to an interior space. This is why the panels in the middle do not line up perfectly. It was commissioned for the home of one of the members of the Imperial family.
Kanō Eitoku was one of the most well-known artists to come from the Kanō school of painting. His monumental art was identifiable by his saturated colors, bold forms with dramatic subjects in the foreground, and liberal use of gold leaf. His work was hailed as a sign of prosperity and wealth. Most of Eitoku’s works were destroyed in the subsequent years following his death, during a time of great political upheaval and civil wars known as the Sengoku period.
During the Azuchi-Momoyama period of general unity and prosperity, the main centers of power shifted from temple settings to the castles and mansions of the ruling families. This was a period of great art, and these structures were decorated with large paintings and screens that were predominantly created by artists from the Kanō school, which was founded by Eitoku’s grandfather, Kanō Motonobu. The art of the Kanō school was influenced by Chinese art, but with brighter colors and dark outlines around its subjects.
“Cypress Trees” is currently in the collections of the Tokyo National Museum in Tokyo, Japan.
For more on Kanō Eitoku, please visit his short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
