The poetic association of cherry blossom with Yoshino was so
established that a view of cherry trees in full bloom immediately
suggested this “famous place” (meisho). Here,
the very basic elements—cherry trees and a stream—are
abstracted from the populated scenes of merry-making, seen in
the right screen of the adjacent Cherry-Blossom Viewing at
Yoshino and Itsukushima, and are made to stand for the whole.
The profusion of light pink petals is contoured in a technique
using powered clam shells; they dazzle against the clouds and
banks of mist.
The screens are signed “Tosa shôgen Mitsuoki hitsu”
(From the brush of Tosa Mitsuoki, of the shôgen
rank). Mitsuoki re-established the fortunes of the Tosa school,
painters to the imperial court, and this work is thought to date
from shortly after he received the shôgen rank
in 1654.