Summer and Autumn Landscapes - Nakabayashi Chikkei

A six-panel folding screen by Nakabayashi Chikkei, featuring ink wash painting on a gold leaf ground, characteristic of the Bunjinga tradition.

Nakabayashi Chikkei, a practitioner of the Bunjinga (literati) style, created this six-panel folding screen using ink and gold leaf. The work reflects the aesthetic traditions of the Edo period, where artists drew inspiration from Chinese literati painting while adapting these techniques to Japanese formats. The composition employs a technique known as 'kinkumo' or gold clouds, which serves to obscure parts of the terrain and create a sense of atmospheric depth.

The ink work is executed with a focus on brush economy, using varied pressure to define the craggy rock formations and the sparse, windswept trees. The contrast between the monochromatic ink and the metallic gold leaf provides a balance between the austerity of the literati tradition and the decorative requirements of a large-scale screen. The figures within the scene are minimal, suggesting a quiet, contemplative space rather than a narrative event.

Chikkei, who was based in Nagoya, maintained a career that bridged the late Edo period and the transition into the Meiji era. His approach to ink wash painting demonstrates a mastery of the brush, particularly in the rendering of textures on stone and the delicate foliage of the trees. The screen functions as a spatial divider, designed to be viewed in a room where the gold leaf would catch the light, shifting the appearance of the ink forms as the viewer moves across the space. This piece is characteristic of the period's interest in combining classical Chinese themes with the material luxury of gold-ground screens, resulting in a work that is both disciplined in its ink application and visually expansive in its use of negative space.