Court Ladies in Spring Clothing, in the Spring Sunlight

According to the artist's own statement, "Fujiwara period noblewomen have come out on the veranda of the Izudono viewing pavilion to admire spring flowers." Eikyû believed that the wellspring of Nihonga lay in the traditions of the Heian and Kamakura periods, and he clearly referred to the decorated sutras of the Heian period and the handscroll images of the imperial court of the Kamakura period in his creation of this work. Combining such ancient painting techniques as gold and silver powder and sprinkling of thin gold leaf sections and cut leaf decoration, with such modern touches as a brighter palette and decorative composition based on his research, Eikyû produced an "image of the Fujiwara period, in other words the mid Heian period whose courtly culture produced The Tale of Genji." Thus this work gives the viewer a sense of Eikyû's desire to combine a revival of the ancient classics with a sense of modernity.