Pines and falcons

This painting has been attributed to Kano Eitoku, based on the appraisal inscribed by Kano Eino. Although today we have reservations about calling it an authentic work by Eitoku, it is nevertheless a fine example of the relaxed, unfettered style of Momoyama period painting.

With rocky mountains in the background, two pine trees, one with a brown hawk and the other a white hawk perched on its branches, are arranged facing each other, as if to surround a waterscape between them. The gold leaf at times reaches around to the back of the objects as patches of land, while at other times it covers and hides them as golden clouds. The artist has clarified the relative depths of the “stage scenery” and at the same time has emphasized motifs by hiding unnecessary elements. The outer shapes of the gold clouds act in concert with the clumps of the pine leaves to give a rhythmical horizontal movement to the pair of six-fold screens. As a result, there is little sense of depth.
The tree trunks that extend from the top to the bottom of the scene and spread their long, thick branches to the sides reminds us of Cypress tree (Tokyo National Museum), also attributed to Kano Eitoku. Compared to this screen, however, whose attribution has been called into question, the present work is even more stylized and refined. Inscriptions at the lower edges of both screens give the expert opinion of Kano Eino certifying this to be an authentic work by Kano Eitoku. We cannot see in this work Eitoku’s characteristic style, which Eino described in his text Honcho gashi (History of Japanese painting) as “rough and uninhibited,” but it is a fine work that conveys well the relaxed, unfettered feeling of Momoyama painting. (Writer : Reiichi Noguchi Source : Selected Masterpieces from The University Art Museum, Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music: Grand Opening Exhibition, The University Art Museum, Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, 1999)