Artwork Page for Susuki Grass

Details / Information for Susuki Grass

Susuki Grass

芒野図屏風

c. 1525

Japan, Muromachi period

(1392–1573)
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Medium
Pair of six-panel folding screens; ink, color, and gold on paper
Measurements
Overall: 150.3 x 348.8 cm (59 3/16 x 137 5/16 in.)
Credit Line
John L. Severance Fund 1984.43
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
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Did You Know?

The botanical name for susuki grass is miscanthus.

Description

Susuki grass has a seasonal association with autumn in the Japanese visual and literary tradition. It is one of the “Seven Flowers of Autumn,” along with bush clover, arrowroot, pink, patrinia, mistflower, and bellflower. This composition immerses the beholder in a field of grasses and golden bands of mist. The design may have served as a backdrop for poems brushed in ink on decorated papers and attached to the surface of the screens, a practice with a long tradition in Japan.
Two folding screens of six panels each feature thin, arched green grass blades sweeping across a shimmering tan field. Along the outer edges runs a decorative border of blue and gold checkered squares. On both screens, long curves emerge from the bottom, filling the horizontal composition. The background maintains a uniform, flat color, highlighting delicate, intersecting lines of grass. This composition lacks a horizon line, focusing on movement across the shimmering surface.

Susuki Grass

c. 1525

Japan, Muromachi period (1392–1573)

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