Pair of Paintings: Morning Glories (left) and Evening Glories (right)
1761 - 1828
Attributed to Sakai Hōitsu 酒井抱一
Japanese
In this beautiful pair of hanging scrolls, created as a coordinated set, a painting of a small cluster of blue morning glories that wrap around a thin stick of bamboo (in the scroll intended to be hung on the viewer’s left) is complimented by an image of a vine of blossoming white evening glories suspended before a full moon (in the right-hand scroll). These botanical scenes are further embellished with exquisite renderings of insects -- a white butterfly approaching the blue morning glories, and a black moth clinging to a large pod dangling from the evening glory. Executed in ink, color, and gold pigments on silk, each painting includes an artist’s signature and seal.
Pair of hanging scrolls; ink, color, and gold pigment on silk
Edo period, 1615-1868