Six-panel folding screen. paper, ink, colour pigments, and go fun. A stylised meandering river, asymmetrical composition and gold ground are all signature stylistic means of the Rimpa 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 go fun, a paste of glue mixed with powder from baked and ground shells. Thanks to this suggestive volume, the flowers appear to ‘pop out’ of the painting.
Japanese Screens
Rimpa School Folding Fans Screen
Rimpa School
c.1800
Six-Panel Folding Screen
Paper, Ink, Colour Pigments, and Gofun
W 372cm H 171cm
• Exhibited at the Manggha Museum, Krakow (2014)