The Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois will run an exhibition named 'Beyond Golden Clouds: Japanese Screens from the Art Institute of Chicago and the Saint Louis Art Museum' from June 26 to September 27, 2009, at Regenstein Hall.
Part utilitarian and part fine art, the Japanese folding screen has captured the imaginations of those in the West since the 16th century. Compositions of bright mineral pigments painted on gleaming gold-leaf grounds often stretch across their surfaces. More so than smaller painting formats, the screen is the canvas upon which artists have historically realized their most expansive visions, which is why they are so often career-defining masterpieces.
However varied the subjects portrayed and the painting styles adopted, there are unfortunately very few opportunities today to see large numbers of screens displayed together at once, and museum visitors must satisfy themselves with only one or two examples at a time. This exhibition will bring the scope of the significant permanent collections of Japanese screens at the Art Institute and the Saint Louis Art Museum to the public eye. The exhibition, which will be shown at both museums, will include a total of 32 works of art.
Beyond Golden Clouds celebrates the full range of the screen format, made possible by the collaboration of these two midwestern museums. Unique among shows of Japanese screens in the past, this exhibition displays an expansive range of works, dating from as early as the 16th century to the contemporary screens of the past decade. The exhibition features screens of various media, a new element that includes traditional examples on paper and silk, and screens made of stoneware, or ceramic clay, as well as those that appear to be done in lacquer. Through the exhibition the particular role of screens as functional works of art, their characteristic materials and painting techniques, their development in Japan and collection in the West, and their influence on the art of other cultures are explored.
Highlights of the exhibition include a pair of screens depicting a bustling ink landscape by Sesson Shukei (1490–after 1577), the earliest work in the show. Willow Bridge and Waterwheel by Hasegawa Soya is a tour de force of the art of the folding screen produced during the format's heyday in the 17th century. Yamakawa Shuho's entrancing Relaxing in the Shade of 1933 and Kayama Matazo's powerful Star Festival of 1968 represent the screen's modern and contemporary eras. Morita Shiryu's Dragon Knows Dragon makes use of nontraditional materials; it is a calligraphic work wherein the characters appear in gold on a black surface that shines with the finish of lacquer.
The picture shows Hasegawa Soya. Willow Bridge and Waterwheel, c. 1650. Kate S. Buckingham and Frederick W. Renshaw endowments. -- www.artic.edu19
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