Title: Old Plum
Creator: Kano Sansetsu
Location: Tenshōin, a sub temple of Myōshinji, a Zen temple in Kyoto
Date: 1646
Culture: Japan
Medium: Four sliding-door panels (fusuma); ink, color, gold, and gold leaf on paper
Dimensions: Overall (of all four panels): 68 3/4 x 191 1/8 in. (174.6 x 485.5 cm)
Repository: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Description:
These panels, originally forming one wall of a room in a Zen sub temple in Kyoto, depict a large black trunk of a plum tree stretching nearly sixteen feet across the four panels. This plum tree is blossoming, typically occurring in the early spring in Japan. Given that plum tree blossoms emerge while there is still snow on the ground, they are a symbol of perseverance and purity in Japanese culture. Pink flowers are seen in the far left panel, symbolizing rebirth, as described in our class discussion. Reading the work from right to left, you see a large tree trunk, deeply rooted in the ground. The tree then appears to have grown upwards and then grown out to the left, both accounting for the fact that it is a vertical object depicted horizontally (because of the surface), but also to show the interesting growth pattern of this tree. In Japanese tradition, a plum tree is celebrated as a protective charm against evil, and is usually planted in the northeast of a garden, the direction in which evil is believed to come. It also represents adversity and emergent new life by growing in the way it is depicted. Therefore, the plum tree is an important symbol to have on a screen. The bright and authentic gold background highlights that these screens were intended for the rich. However, having the tree in black displays that the gold isn’t the main focal point of the sliding panels, but rather nature, with the ornate decorations in the background. This work highlights the wabi-sabi aesthetic (focus on imperfect nature), important to traditional Japanese art.
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