Irises

The background is gold alone, with neither ground nor water painted. On it, clusters of irises are painted with flowers in ultramarine of varying depth and leaves in malachite green. The clusters of flowers change position, high on the right screen and low on the left, and seen across both screens they create a rhythm that sways up and down.

The petals are given a plump look by making use of the thickness of the paint. In some of the flower shapes, traces of repeatedly using the same stencil can be seen, heightening a design quality like the patterns on a kimono. Only flowers and leaves are painted, but the large picture is built by the ingenuity of their arrangement.

In the background lies the Azuma Kudari scene from section nine of The Tales of Ise. At Yatsuhashi, a famous place for irises, the protagonist composed a poem about his feelings on the journey. Korin paints neither bridge nor figure, and evokes the tale with irises alone.

Ogata Korin was born into a family of high-class kimono merchants in Kyoto and revered Tawaraya Sotatsu. This work was bought in 1914 by the first Nezu Kaichiro, who laid the foundation for the Nezu Museum, and he showed it at exhibitions and tea gatherings. It was designated a National Treasure in 1951.