The Art Of The Japanese Screen

From its earliest days the Cleveland Museum of Art has demonstrated an active interest in Asian art. An important aspect of this initiative is the interest in the indigenous art of Japan evident in the museum's collection of screens, in which narrative subjects receive emphasis equal to those of the earlier Chinese-dominated tradition. Forty-four Japanese screens (many of them pairs), from the late 15th to the early 19th centuries, represent one of the largest and best collections in the West. This exhibition catalogue illustrates all these extraordinary objects together for the first time, in a generous format and the highest quality reproduction.

The design of the Japanese folding screen is one of the great art devices in decorative arts. Its history, school of Japanese painting, the artists are explored in this elegant publication wherein the golds, reds and greens reflect as accurately aspossible on the printed page of the actual screens.

Folding screens, known as byôbu in Japanese, are treasures within any museum's collection and are beloved by the general public. This beautiful publication brings together the very finest screens from the world-renowned collections of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Saint Louis Art Museum. The featured works range from an extraordinary pair of landscapes by Sesson Shukei, a Zen-Buddhist monk-painter of the late 16th century, to daring contemporary works from the late 20th century. The first half of the Edo period (1615-1868) is especially well represented, with a dozen screens from the 17th century by such masters as Kano Koi and Tosa Mitsuoki. The contemporary scene is also well covered, with ten examples from the 20th century--proving the longevity of this art form and its currency among modern-day artists. Enlightening essays by important scholars in the field cover topics like the emergence of screens as an art form and a novel discussion of the relationship of Japanese screens to those made in other countries. Distributed for the Art Institute of Chicago Exhibition Schedule: The Art Institute of Chicago (6/26/09-9/27/09) Saint Louis Art Museum (10/18/09-1/3/10)

Susannah had met Fernando Cuevas in London, and in a whirlwind romance had fallen wildly and irrevocably in love with him. She could hardly believe it when Fernando, on what seemed to be an unconvincing excuse, ended it all, and disappeared out of her life as quickly as he had come into it. The only thing to do, Susannah decided, was to make a new life for herself, so she took a job as governess to a young Spanish girl which would take her to live in Spain for a while. She was horrified, on arriving at her destination, to realise that the child was Fernando's daughter; that he was very much married; and that she was going to meet him again at any moment. What was she to do now?

Features examples from all styles of Japanese screen painting, ranging from monochrome ink paintings to richly coloured scenes with gold backgrounds