Morning Glories

Suzuki Kiitsu was an artist of the Rimpa school, which was sometimes called the “decorative school” of painting for its bold compositions and design sense. Rimpa artists took a significant interest in painting morning glories, which were bred in several varieties in the 19th century. Here, Kiitsu featured these flowers on an oversized fan pasted onto a screen. Although the creases in the fan suggest that it had been used before becoming part of this work, that may not have been the case. The artist could have creased the fan to allude to earlier similar compositions or simply to play with the subject.