Paravent (Folding Screen)

"The extensive feudal corteges coming to and from Edo often appeared as the main theme in Japanese art, as well as anecdotic motif. An example of that is the landscape by Utagawa Hiroshige purchased by Santiago Rusiñol. Hiroshige’s print shows one of the stretches along the Tokaido, the main route that used to join Kyoto and Edo, right where the travellers had to cross the Oi River. It focuses on the spectacle of nature, situating the men in the cortege at the mercy of nature. This is also what is depicted on the folding screen conserved in Cau Ferrat, in which the scene centres exclusively on showing this journey. This Japanese folding screen is made over a neutral golden background from which the different figures in the cortege, made with paper and fabric, stand out like a bas-relief. A careful look at the scene reveals a total of 42 people, some of them with clearly visible family emblems. The scene is surrounded by a fabric edge with dragonfly, frog and butterfly motifs, common to the aesthetic tradition from the Edo period. This folding screen, along with the five ukiyo-e prints conserved in the office, are a clear sign of the interest that Santiago Rusiñol and his artistic environment in both his youth and his older age had for the art of Japan. (Museu del Cau Ferrat, Sitges, 32052)"