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Lot Essay
The battles at Ichinotani and Yashima are shown together on one of the screens. The painting is a luxury special commission, probably the work of an anonymous Nihonga artist.
The genre of history painting, featuring themes which seem old-fashioned or familiar today, was prized in the 1880s and 1890s during a time of growing national self-awareness. The Tokyo School of Fine Arts, founded in 1876, taught only traditional Japanese techniques. Concurrently, renewed interest in Japanese history inspired paintings focusing on The Tale of the Heike. History paintings were deemed suitable to the newly important public role of paintings in Meiji Japan.
The genre of history painting, featuring themes which seem old-fashioned or familiar today, was prized in the 1880s and 1890s during a time of growing national self-awareness. The Tokyo School of Fine Arts, founded in 1876, taught only traditional Japanese techniques. Concurrently, renewed interest in Japanese history inspired paintings focusing on The Tale of the Heike. History paintings were deemed suitable to the newly important public role of paintings in Meiji Japan.