Artwork Page for Irises

Details / Information for Irises

Irises

1700s

Watanabe Shikō 渡辺 始興

(Japanese, 1683–1755)
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Culture
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
Medium
One of a pair of six-panel folding screens, ink and color on gilded paper
Measurements
Painting: 154.4 x 360.4 cm (60 13/16 x 141 7/8 in.); Mounted: 170.7 x 376.7 cm (67 3/16 x 148 5/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of The Norweb Foundation 1954.603.2
Public Domain
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Location
On view at Nezu Museum, Tokyo, Apr 11, 2026 - May 10, 2026
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Description

The subject of this painting comes from a 10th-century text. It tells of a young nobleman’s journey into the lonely countryside, far from the capital city of Heian-kyō (Kyoto). There he came upon a small stream, the banks of which were covered with blooming irises, on which the artist has chosen to focus our attention. While viewing the beautiful flowers the nobleman composed a poem:

I have a beloved wife,
Familiar as the skirt of a well-worn robe,
And so this distant journeying
Fills my heart with grief.
A horizontal six-panel folding screen depicts clusters of deep blue irises with pointy green leaves scattered across a gold background. The flowers feature thin petals sticking up in the center while shorter, wider petals droop at the sides, with white highlights adding depth. A dense group anchors the left, with scattered clusters toward the right and bottom. A blue patterned border with thin red edges frames the screen, where plants emerge from the gold.

Irises

1700s

Watanabe Shikō

(Japanese, 1683–1755)
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)

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