In Chapter 30, “Mistflowers,” Yūgiri visits Tamakazura after the death of their grand-mother. Yūgiri has learned that Tamakazura is not his sister but his cousin, thus opening up the possibility of courtship. He brings a message of condolence and a love poem, along with a bouquet of mistflowers. As Tamakazura has honed her skills in fending off Genji’s advances, she artfully sidesteps Yūgiri’s as well. This moment is portrayed with Mitsuyoshi’s typical refined delicacy.
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Artwork Details
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土佐光吉筆 源氏物語図色紙 「藤袴」
Title:“Mistflowers”
Artist:Tosa Mitsuyoshi (Japanese, 1539–1613)
Period:Momoyama period (1573–1615)
Date:late 16th–early 17th century
Culture:Japan
Medium:Album leaf mounted as a hanging
scroll; ink, color and gold on paper
Dimensions:Image: 10 1/8 × 8 3/8 in. (25.7 × 21.2 cm) Overall with mounting: 54 5/8 × 15 1/4 in. (138.7 × 38.7 cm) Overall with knobs: 54 5/8 × 17 3/16 in. (138.7 × 43.6 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015
Accession Number:2015.300.30
Marking: Seal: Tosa Kyuyoku
Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation , New York (until 2015; donated to MMA)
Bloomington. Indiana University Art Museum. "Genji: The World of a Prince," July 14, 1982–August 29, 1982.
Tokyo National Museum. "Nihon bijutsu meihin ten: nyūyōku bāku korekushon," May 21, 1985–June 30, 1985.
Nagoya City Art Museum. "Nihon bijutsu meihin ten: nyūyōku bāku korekushon," August 17, 1985–September 23, 1985.
Atami. MOA Museum of Art. "Nihon bijutsu meihin ten: nyūyōku bāku korekushon," September 29, 1985–October 27, 1985.
Hamamatsu City Museum of Art. "Nihon bijutsu meihin ten: nyūyōku bāku korekushon," November 12, 1985–December 1, 1985.
New York. Asia Society. "Art of Japan: Selections from the Burke Collection, pts. I and II," October 2, 1986–February 22, 1987.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Courtly Romance in Japanese Art," May 12–July 12, 1989.
Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt. "Die Kunst des Alten Japan: Meisterwerke aus der Mary and Jackson Burke Collection," September 16, 1990–November 18, 1990.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Celebrating the Arts of Japan: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection," October 20, 2015–May 14, 2017.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Tale of Genji: A Japanese Classic Illuminated," March 5–June 16, 2019.
Keene, Donald. Seeds in the Heart : Japanese Literature from Earliest Times to the Late Sixteenth Century. New York: Columbia University Press, 1999, front cover.
Murase, Miyeko, Il Kim, Shi-yee Liu, Gratia Williams Nakahashi, Stephanie Wada, Soyoung Lee, and David Sensabaugh. Art Through a Lifetime: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection. Vol. 1, Japanese Paintings, Printed Works, Calligraphy. [New York]: Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, [2013], p. 47, cat. no. 67.
Carpenter, John T., and Melissa McCormick. The Tale of Genji: A Japanese Classic Illuminated. Exh. cat. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2019, p. 180, cat. no. 40.
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