Cherry Blossoms and Autumn Maples

Isobe Hyakurin (1836–1906)

Dated Meiji 28, April: 1895

Pair of two-panel Japanese screens; ink and pigments on silver leaf

Dimensions of each screen:

H. 172 cm x W. 175 cm (68’’ x 69”)

This refined pair of screens by Isobe Hyakurin, a Shinto priest and painter of the Maruyama–Shijō school, captures the passage of time through the changing seasons. The right screen depicts spring cherry blossoms with two delicate butterflies in flight; the left shows autumn maple branches and a pair of small birds. This transition is bridged by a field of shimmering silver leaf, an abstract void where moments in time are held suspe nded between vivid change and quiet stillness.

The composition achieves a masterful balance between fullness and emptiness. The branches on each screen reach toward the center, subtly echoing one another, yet they never meet. This measured tension creates a poetic dialogue between vitality and stillness — a visual metaphor for the continuity of nature’s cycles.

Hyakurin’s use of color is both restrained and expressive. The deep crimson and russet tones of the maple leaves resonate with the pale pink and white hues of the cherry blossoms, their contrast heightened by the cool radiance of the silver ground. Over time, the silver leaf gently oxidizes, softening into warmer shades of gray, lending the work an ever-changing atmospheric quality that mirrors the impermanence of the seasons it portrays.

In this work Hyakurin upholds the naturalistic yet idealized sensibility of the Maruyama–Shijō tradition, emphasizing keen observation and emotional restraint and distilling traditional painting into its purest elements: line, air, and light.

Isobe Hyakurin (1836–1906) was a Shinto priest and painter of the Maruyama–Shijō school. Born into a family that had served as priests at the Ise Grand Shrine for generations, he initially studied painting under Hayashi Sōrin, and later under Hasegawa Gyokuho in Kyoto. There, he refined the elegant style characteristic of the Maruyama–Shijō school and developed friendships with leading Kyoto artists such as Kubota Beisen, Imao Keinen, and Suzuki Shōnen.

After returning to Ise, Hyakurin resumed his duties as a priest while continuing to paint, earning top prizes at numerous exhibitions and gaining widespread recognition. Around 1877, during a movement to incorporate former master positions into the samurai class, he was approached several times by the head of the Uji clan to sign in support of the effort. Hyakurin firmly declined, declaring, “I live in my studio by the Isuzu River, with a brush at my side; my love of natural beauty is my true talent.”

His artistic achievements were widely celebrated—he received a bronze medal at the Kyoto Exposition and a gold medal at the Oriental Painting Exhibition. In 1905, during an imperial visit to Ise, he presented the Meiji Emperor with his painting Futamigaura-no-e. Hyakurin also played a pivotal role in nurturing a new generation of artists who would go on to shape the modern Kyoto art world.

He passed away in 1906, leaving behind a poignant farewell poem: “Katachi koso kiyure, inochi wa no ni yama ni” (While my form may pass away, my life flows into the fields and mountains.)