Arashiyama in Spring and Takao in Autumn

These screens celebrate two famous sites close to the city of Kyoto: Arashiyama, known for its springtime cherry blossoms (right), and Takao, noted for the beauty of its autumn maples (left). Baiitsu was the supreme colorist among literati painters of his era. His lavish use of mineral blues and greens and several different kinds of cut-gold sprinkled to create dreamlike pillows of mist is supplemented with Chinese-style inkwork (to texture Arashiyama) and gold outline (for the rocks of Takao) in a manner highly reminiscent of Ming and Qing landscape paintings popular in Edo Japan. While timeless, each of these sites is also anchored to a specific moment by the tiny vignettes of visitors enjoying the seasonal views.