A SUPERB KANO SCHOOL SIX-PANEL ‘WHITE HERONS AND WILLOW IN SNOW’ BYOBU (FOLDING SCREEN)

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A SUPERB KANO SCHOOL SIX-PANEL ‘WHITE HERONS AND WILLOW IN SNOW’ BYOBU (FOLDING SCREEN) Japan, 17th century, Edo period (1615-1868) Ink, watercolors, gouache, and gold leaf on paper. Mounted on silk brocade on six lacquered wood panels with brass fittings finely incised with blossoming chrysanthemums. Exquisitely painted with a group of white herons standing amid swelling waters, one in flight above them, alongside a billowing willow with heavily snow-laden branches, and a cluster of blossoming camellias, heralding the close of winter and the advent of a new spring. SIZE 107.6 x 377.1 cm The Kano school was a prominent group of painters, comprising both relatives of the Kano family and talented students who were granted the family name. The school played a central role in the production of paintings for temples and palaces in Japan's capital cities throughout the Edo period. Renowned for their deep understanding of Chinese painting styles, the Kano artists adapted these techniques to meet Japanese tastes. Early works from the Kano school drew heavy inspiration from Chinese landscape painters of the Song dynasty. Over time, the school’s style evolved, blending the finely modulated ink outlines of Chinese traditions with the richly decorative colors and seasonal motifs of the indigenous Yamato-e school. The screen’s carefully arranged composition, with the willow tree bending toward the center, reflects the influence of celebrated works produced in Kyoto by the artists Tan’yu and Sansetsu during the early 17th century. Auction comparison: Compare a closely related six-panel byobu (folding screen) depicting egrets and a willow in snow, Edo period, late 17th century, 170 x 390 cm, at Sotheby’s, Japanese Works of Art from Private Collections, London, 5 October 2023, lot 1 (mid-estimate at GBP 12,500 or approx. EUR 15,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing). Also compare a closely related pair of Kano screens depicting herons in spring and winter, dated 17th century, 151 x 327.8 cm (each), at Christie’s, Japanese and Korean Art, 20 March 2013, New York, lot 548 (sold for USD 30,000 or approx. EUR 36,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).

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