Page 6 - Christies Japanese and Korean Art Sept 22 2020 NYC

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ANONYMOUS (17TH-18TH CENTURY)
Scenes In and Around the Capital (Rakuchu rakugai zu)
Pair of six-panel screens; ink, color, gold and gold leaf on paper
61¬ x 141 in. (156.5 x 358.3 cm.) each (2)
$40,000-60,000

Panoramic views of Kyoto, filled with endlessly fascinating details
first appeared in the beginning of the sixteenth century and
remained popular until the eighteenth century. Such screens were
in great demand among the people of Kyoto and were purchased
also by out-of-town visitors as a souvenir of their visit to the
capital. A few screens can be attributed to a specific artist, but most,
including those shown here, are by ambitious, anonymous town
painters in large ateliers. The lavish, no-expense-spared use of gold,
high-quality pigments such as cinnabar, malachite and azurite, the
attention to minute detail, and clearly structured composition signal
the viewer that this is a special commission on the highest order.

The organization of Kyoto panoramas evolved in the sixteenth
and seventeenth century in response to political changes. The
government of Kyoto changed from an unstable balance of
contending factions to the firm central authority of the Tokugawa
shogunate. At the same time, with the advent of peace and
prosperity in the early seventeenth century, there was an increasing
interest in the activities of ordinary citizens and the secular world of
entertainment. The cityscape is arranged with east and west Kyoto
on the right and left screens, respectively. The Great Buddha Hall
and the Imperial Palace are always featured on the right screen.
Nijo Castle dominates the left screen and is generally the largest
and most impressive building in the composition. Nijo Castle was
completed in 1603 as the temporary residence of the new shogun,
Tokugawa Ieyasu. It became a symbol of the Tokugawa presence in
Kyoto and their victory over the forces of Toyotomi Hideyoshi.