Rinpa School Folding Fans Screen

Six-panel folding screen. paper, ink, natural colour pigments from crushed stones, and gofun (oyster shell) . A stylised meandering river, asymmetrical composition and gold ground are all signature stylistic means of the Rinpa school, with its attempts to revive the best of the Yamato-e tradition. This bold, half-abstract decoration brings our focus to the design based on contrasts – dark river and bring gold, simple background and details of fans. The fans are decorated with Kiku (chrysanthemums), evocative of autumn. The flowers have been further highlighted using a technique called moorage – slightly raised relief obtained by painting with gofun, a paste of glue mixed with powder from baked and ground oyster shells. Thanks to this suggestive volume, the flowers appear to ‘pop out’ of the painting.