Star Festival (Tanabata)

Artist: Kayama Matazō, Japanese, 1927–2004
Period: Shōwa period, 1926–1989
Date: 1968
Material: Six-panel folding screen: ink, color, gold, and silver on silk
made in: Japan, Asia
Classification: Paintings
Collection: Asian Art
Current Location: Not on view
Dimensions: 66 7/16 in. x 12 ft. 3 1/4 in. (168.8 x 374 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Kayama Matazô, The Japan America Society of St. Louis, and Dr. J. Peggy Adeboi
Rights: © Kayama Ltd.
Object Number: 150:1987

NOTES

The constellations Herdsman and Weaving Princess were so in love that they neglected their celestial duties. Angered by their infatuation, the Lord of Heaven banished them to opposite ends of the galaxy, permitting them to meet but once a year on the seventh night of the seventh lunar month, recognized in the festival Tanabata. Their autumnal meeting is celebrated in ancient poetry that describes the Herdsman as he boats across the Milky Way, "buffeting the white waves of the Heavenly River," to unite with his beloved Princess. This richly colored screen portrays the Herdsman's heavenly voyage in the decorative form of an elegant crescent moon, cradled in a roiling ocean of silvery stars and billowing waves, bound for golden shores and the slender bamboo that reaches out over the waters in anticipation of the lovers' reunion.

Provenance

1968 - 1987
Kayama Matazô (1927–2004), Yokohama, Japan [1]

1987 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, given by Mr. and Mrs. Kayama Matazô [2]

Notes:
[1] Painted in 1968 by Kayama Matazô [memo dated November 2, 1987, SLAM document files].

[2] Minutes of the Acquisitions and Loans Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, November 6, 1987.

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