Four-Panel Japanese Screen with White and Red Plum Blossom, Signed

This four-panel screen presents a study in seasonal contrast, its composition divided cleanly between two plum trees at differing stages of bloom. Across the left panels, gnarled dark branches carry a profusion of white blossoms, their petals rendered in soft, layered dabs of white pigment against a muted, silvery ground, while a pair of green songbirds wing across the upper register, their outstretched forms adding movement and life to an otherwise still, wintry composition. At right, a second plum tree takes over the panels in full detail, its branches sweeping in bold, calligraphic curves across the gold-toned ground, this time blossoming in vivid pink and red — a striking chromatic shift that suggests either two related varieties of plum shown side by side, or a deliberate before-and-after progression from paler to more vibrant bloom. Plum blossom (ume) holds a privileged place in Japanese painting as the first flower to bloom each year, often while snow is still on the ground, and carries long-associated meanings of resilience, renewal, and the promise of spring breaking through winter’s austerity. The pairing of plum with small songbirds — a classic kachōga (bird-and-flower) combination — reinforces this seasonal reading, the birds’ presence suggesting the stirrings of life returning to the garden. The artist’s handling favors a confident, economical branch structure built from dry, textured brushwork, over which the blossoms are applied in a more controlled, almost stippled technique, giving the flowers real dimensionality against the flatter treatment of the ground. A signature and accompanying seal appear at lower right on the final panel — visible in the detail view — situating the work as a signed piece by an identifiable hand, though I’m not in a position to confidently read or translate the character(s) from the photograph alone; an in-hand reading or a specialist’s translation would be needed to confirm the artist’s name and add it properly to this listing. The gold-toned and silvered grounds across the two halves of the screen catch and reflect available light in the manner traditional to Japanese decorative painting, giving the piece real presence even from across a room. Age: Circa 20th century Dimensions 68″ x 36″