The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 29, 2026

A six-panel folding screen depicts a horizontal landscape across shimmering gold. At the left, a gnarled pine curves over frilly white peonies and jagged, ink-washed rocks. Centrally, a peacock with iridescent blue-green plumage stands atop a boulder, overlooking a peahen walking among blossoms. To the right, slender green reeds frame ducks swimming in a stream. Pale mountain peaks rise in the distance beneath two birds soaring through the gold expanse.

Birds and Flowers

late 1500s

attributed to Kano Mitsunobu

(Japanese, 1565–1608)
Japan, Momoyama period (1573–1615)
One of a pair of six-panel folding screens; ink, color, and gold on paper
Image: 155.9 x 339.4 cm (61 3/8 x 133 5/8 in.); Overall: 168.5 x 352.2 cm (66 5/16 x 138 11/16 in.); Closed: 172.5 x 61 x 11.3 cm (67 15/16 x 24 x 4 7/16 in.); Panel: 168.5 x 58.7 cm (66 5/16 x 23 1/8 in.); with frame: 171.7 x 355.4 cm (67 5/8 x 139 15/16 in.)
Gift of William G. Mather 1948.128.2
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

As masters of the Kano academic painting style, both Kano Shōei and Kano Mitsunobu favored Chinese-inspired subject matter, such as birds and flowers.

Description

The landscape depicted in this pair of screens follows a seasonal progression from right to left, starting with the blossoming plum of early spring and ending with late autumn peonies. A variety of smaller birds are positioned throughout the scene, and a trio of swimming ducks is bracketed by early summer irises and early autumn bellflowers at the center. While some raptors (birds of prey) terrorize a pheasant and an egret (a waterfowl) to the right, a peacock and peahen converse to the left. Hawks are associated with military prowess, while the peafowl suggest cultural prestige.
  • ?–1948
    William G. Mather [1857–1951], Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1948–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Chiba-shi Bijutsukan. Shugyoku no Nihon bijutsu: Hosomi korekushon no zenbō to Bosuton, Kurīburando, Sakkurā no wadaisaku: kaikan isshūnen kinen. Chiba-shi: Chiba-shi Bijutsukan, 1996. Reproduced: cat. no. 81, p. 98
    Tōyō kaiga no seika: tokubetsuten: Kurīvurando Bijutsukan no korekushon kara [東洋絵画の精華: 特别展: クリーヴラント美術館のコレクションから= Highlights of Asian painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art]. Nara, Japan: Nara National Museum, 1998. Reproduced: pp. 120–122, cat. no. 80
    Cunningham, Michael R. "Discovering Japanese Screens." Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 41, no. 6 (Summer 2001): 4–5. Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 4–5 archive.org
    Cunningham, Michael R. Unfolding Beauty: Japanese Screens from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2001. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 18–19
    Admired from afar: masterworks of Japanese painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art [クリーブランド美術館展 : 名画でたどる日本の美 Kurīburando Bijutsukan ten: meiga de tadoru Nihon no bi ]. Tokyo: Tōkyō Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan, 2014. Reproduced: cat. no. 29, pp. 90–91
  • Animals in Japanese Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 24-December 10, 2023).
    Admired from Afar: Masterworks of Japanese Painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, Japan (January 15-February 23, 2014); Kyushu National Museum, Fukuoka, Japan (July 8-August 31, 2014).
    Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 121). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (March 12-July 13, 2004).
    Unfolding Beauty: Japanese Screens from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 15-September 16, 2001).
    Highlights of Asian Paintings from The Cleveland Museum of Art. Nara National Museum (organizer) (February 21-March 29, 1998); Suntory Museum of Art (April 28-June 21, 1998).
    The Legacy of Japanese Art. Chiba City Museum of Art (organizer) (October 1-November 10, 1996).
    Autumn Grasses: Arts of the Momoyama Period (1573-1615). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 4-December 11, 1988).
    Byobu: The Art of the Japanese Screen. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 8, 1987-January 10, 1988).
    Japanese Screens from the Museum and Cleveland Collections. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 23-May 8, 1977).
  • {{cite web|title=Birds and Flowers|url=false|author=Kano Mitsunobu|year=late 1500s|access-date=29 April 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1948.128.2