Screen; Japan, 1920.

Screen; Japan, 1920.
Paper painted with ink.
Measurements: 55 x 216 cm.
Japanese folding screen from the 1920s composed of two sheets. The piece has an ornamentation that adapts to the structure of the piece, dominated by the presence of a landscape landscape painted in ink on paper. Both the line and the use of a reduced range of color compose a scene of great lyrical evocation.
Japanese screens, or byobu, have occupied a central place in Japanese material culture and aesthetics since the Middle Ages, but their role during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries is especially revealing of the processes of modernization and social transformation that Japan underwent during this period. Originally conceived as movable space dividers, intended to regulate intimacy and modulate the sensory experience of traditional architecture, screens became true supports for artistic expression.
During the 19th century, at the height of the late Edo period, and later in the Meiji era (1868-1912), screens became the preferred canvas for depicting scenes of daily life, seasonal landscapes and literary motifs. With the opening of the country to international trade in the second half of the 19th century, the screens began to circulate in the global market, arousing the interest of European and North American collectors and museums.