The Picture Contest (E-Awase), Illustration to Chapter 17 of the "Tale of Genji" (Genji monogatari) c. 1615

Curator: From the Harvard Art Museums, we are viewing "The Picture Contest (E-Awase)," an illustration from Chapter 17 of the "Tale of Genji." It's attributed to the School of Tosa Mitsuyoshi. Editor: The composition feels quite fragmented, almost dreamlike. The perspective shifts, drawing attention to surface rather than depth. Curator: The image depicts a scene of cultural significance, where artworks themselves become objects of intense evaluation and carry symbolic weight. The figures seem absorbed in the act of aesthetic judgment. Editor: The use of flat planes and decorative patterns reminds me of early modernist experimentation with perspective. The materiality of the paper also asserts itself. Curator: Indeed, and beyond the modernist interpretation, the scene reveals a long-standing Japanese tradition of connoisseurship, where judging art was a crucial social and intellectual activity. Editor: Thinking about it now, there's a tension here between illusion and surface. The painting hints at depth but remains firmly on the plane. Curator: Precisely, a visual echo of the very contest it depicts, grappling with representation and perception. Editor: Well, that's certainly given me a new perspective on this composition. Curator: It is rewarding to be in conversation with the image and our own cultural memory.