The early provenance of Paulownians and Chrysanthemum remains undocumented. The work was later part of the American foundation for the Maud E. and Warren H. Corning Collection, Cleveland, Ohio. It was then given to the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Sakai Hoitsu was born into a rich and powerful samurai family during the period of Edo Japan, in 1761. He didn't become a samurai, instead he led the life of an artist after becoming a Buddhist monk. His paintings are heavily influenced by Ogata Korin, whose works were patronized by his family and, hence, gave an opportunity to Hoitsu to study Korin's works closely. Hoitsu's interest delves into themes of nature, trees, birds, waves, flowers, and other natural elements which can be clearly visible in this piece of work. Hoitsu later shifted his themes to showcasing the four seasons of a year which was different from his previous works on the scenes from classical Chinese and Japanese literature. Although the techniques he borrowed from Korin's works, such as use of vivid colors, and a bold design on an empty space, perpetuated.
Paulownians and Chrysanthemum (1810) by Hoitsu is a two-sectioned screen work where the twisted old tree can been seen boring some whitish green moss. It is accompanied by ivy leaves colored in various shades of green. This adds a visual depth and texture to the overall painting. The white-colored chrysanthemums are placed on the ground, near the tree and the surrounding river. In contrast to the simple and plain background, the leaves, flowers, tree, and the river is painted with bright vivid colors. This shows the natural elements in an ornamental, almost decorative way. the tree trunk is painted using a thin wash technique, while the flowers are painted with repetitive brush strokes. This painting is the epitome of a breath of freshness and liveliness which represents summer and early autumn in Japan.
Sakai Hōitsu was an elegant artist and monk from the Edo period who connected the noble style of Rinpa to a more intimate view of nature in this two-panel screen. As a member of a prominent samurai family, he later spent years trying to recreate the work of Ogata Kōrin using techniques. In this work, created in 1810, you can see his distinctive use of a technique called tarashikomi, which consists of applying wet paint to wet paint, through the mottled texture of the mossy trunk of the gnarled tree that balanced the composition on top of a shimmering background of gold-leaf.
The stylized blue river flows through the piece with rhythmic silver swirls suggesting a "stream of consciousness" between the towering physicality of the tree to the transient appearance of flowers below it; thus suggesting that beauty is not in one static moment but rather is in the fluid transition from one phase to another.
Hōitsu expresses a message of co-existing in equilibrium through the use of bold colour placed equally to a vast and simple background showing that for life's exuberance to exist it must be contrasted by stillness. It is a lavishly elaborate celebration of the natural world that feels both great in the use of gold-leaf and very personal in its soft, floral details.
Share
By: Jyotirmaya Samanta
Created as a two-panel folding screen ('byōbu'), tailored for the intimate, tight quarters of wealthy urban Edo merchants, "Paulownias and Chrysanthemums" cements Hōitsu's legacy as the man who revived the brilliant Rinpa school of painting for a 19th-century audience. The most technically arresting feature of the painting is Hōitsu’s delicate use of a highly temperamental technique, 'tarashikomi' (literally "dripping-in") where, instead of waiting for a layer of ink or mineral pigment to dry, the artist drops a second, wetter layer of a different pigment directly into the puddles of the first. As a result, the natural pooling causes the edges to darken organically as they dry, perfectly mimicking the wilting, twisting behaviour of real autumn foliage. What fascinates the audience furthermore is Hōitsu’s intentionally political and symbolic choice of pairing the Paulownia (kiri) and the Chrysanthemum (kiku) which are the official emblems of the Japanese Imperial house. By binding these two motifs on the screen, Hōitsu elegantly depicts the transitional turning of the seasons from spring to autumn, while simultaneously paying homage to imperial nobility.
