PAYSAGE ENNEIGE, PARAVENT A DEUX FEUILLES, ENCRE ET COULEUR SUR PAPIER

This present two-panel screen is rare and unique. It was made especially by Kiyokata for the first version of the play La Femme et son ombre, written by Paul Claudel in 1922, and performed at the Imperial Theatre in Tokyo on March 16th 1923. The artist not only created the scenography but also the costumes. The play was originally commissioned by the Kabuki actor Nakamura Fukusuke to adapt a ballet scenario for his dance group L’homme et son désir. Paul Claudel decided to create a purely Japanese play in the model of Noh. A second version was written in 1926.