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松林図屏風

Hasegawa Tōhaku

松林図屏風

16th century

Hasegawa Tōhaku's 'Pine Trees' ('Shōrin-zu byōbu', late 16th century) is a pair of six-panel folding screens depicting a mist-shrouded pine forest rendered entirely in ink on gold-sprinkled paper. Refining the Chinese Song tradition of ink painting through the distinctively Japanese command of empty space, the work shows no figures, buildings, or birds — only mist, pines, and silence. Designated a National Treasure of Japan and held by the Tokyo National Museum, it is the supreme example of Momoyama-period ink screens.

Image source: Wikimedia Commons

松林図屏風 — Hasegawa Tōhaku | Museum Map