Musée Guimet seeks support for restoration of three Japanese folding screens

Musée Guimet has launched a €100,000 fundraising campaign to restore three Japanese folding screens ahead of their planned presentation in the exhibition ‘Images qui se plient et se déplient : Paravents japonais’ in March 2027.

The three works are ‘Fleurs au printemps et en été’, ‘Scène de danse’ and ‘La Bataille d’Ichi no Tani’. Dated between the 17th and 19th centuries, they each have a distinct iconography.

‘Fleurs au printemps et en été’, a folding screen with four-season flowers and foliage, dates to the Momoyama/Edo period, between 1600 and 1640. Attributed to the workshop of Tawaraya Sōtatsu, it is made with paper, ink, pigments and gold leaf. Its painted layer has areas of lifting and separation on the gilded surface.

The anonymous ‘Scène de danse’, from Japan and dated to the 17th–18th century, is made of paper, ink, pigments and wood. Its support will be replaced as part of the restoration.

‘La Bataille d’Ichi no Tani’ is a six-panel screen illustrating episodes from the ‘Heike Monogatari’. The work has a fragile structure, partially detached panels and visible earlier restorations.