Seasonal Subjects Feelings of The Four Seasons Evoked through Japanese Paintings

In Japanese paintings, seasonal plants and animals are often used as subjects to express each season. In this way, flowers, grass, trees, birds and insects can please our eyes in every season. Moreover, works of traditional seasonal events and customs can also give a seasonal atmosphere. Each of these is generally expressed in a picture on a large scale, but subjects indicating the season are sometimes depicted in a relatively small way; they can be seen in the type of a woman’s kimono, or its color and pattern. In other cases, items could be in a character’s hands or casually arranged on one side.
This exhibition will display works showing those seasonal elements, selected from paintings by Yokoyama Taikan, Takeuchi Seiho, Hashimoto Kansetsu, Sakakibara Shiho and Ito Shinsui, which are housed by Adachi Museum. We hope that you will enjoy seeking these seasonal subjects and finding the seasonal expressions of these painters.