Title: Old Plum
Creator: Kano Sansetsu
Medium: Four sliding-door panels (fusuma); ink, color, gold, and gold leaf on paper
Date: 1646
Dimension: 68 3/4 x 191 1/8 in. (174.6 x 485.5 cm)
Repository: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Image Description: This massive display was created by Kano Sansetsu in Kyoto, Japan, in the mid-1600s. The image depicts an old plum tree spread across four sliding-door panels. This tree is visibly old with blossoming flowers, that spreads across almost sixteen fight of wood. These sprouting blossoms help symbolize birth and revival. Originally these panels formed a wall in the TenshÅin, a Zen temple in Kyoto. In the 1880’s they were split up and sold to art collectors until they eventually ended up in the Minneapolis Institue of Arts and a decade later in the MET. The image also shows the progression of the spring season. Starting from left to right buds begin to bloom on the plum tree and as we travel to the far left side of the painting fully bloom red flowers appear, suggesting that the painter transitions from early spring to summer. Gold is also a sacred color in Japanese culture it represents wealth and honor while also protecting. Artists use different shades or forms of gold depending on the light effect they want the viewer to experience. Gold foil was used in this painting to display a bright background behind a seemingly sad, dying tree. This painting successfully combines wealth and power with age and renewal.
Photo: Property of the MET
