Susuki Grassc. 1525 · Study 1984.43

Context from the museum

Susuki grass has a seasonal association with autumn in the Japanese visual and literary tradition. It is one of the “Seven Flowers of Autumn,” along with bush clover, arrowroot, pink, patrinia , mistflower, and bellflower. This composition immerses the beholder in a field of grasses and golden bands of mist. The design may have served as a backdrop for poems brushed in ink on decorated papers and attached to the surface of the screens, a practice with a long tradition in Japan.

Museum description reproduced from its CC0 open-access record. Read the original catalog entry.

A detail to notice

The botanical name for susuki grass is miscanthus.

Observation supplied by the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Read the dimensions before the image

The selected overall measurement for Susuki Grass is 348.8 cm wide and 150.3 cm high, equivalent to approximately 137.3 × 59.2 inches. Dividing width by height gives a format ratio of 2.32:1. The rectangular bounding area is 5.24 square meters; it describes the measured footprint, not the amount of paint or the monetary value.

On an illustrative 300 cm wall, the recorded width occupies 116.3% of the span before adding a frame. That exceeds the example wall width, so a smaller reference wall would not reproduce the recorded scale. These are calculations by Physical Art For Crypto using museum measurements. They are not the museum’s display recommendations.

Questions to bring to your own collection

With Susuki Grass in view, identify one feature you can point to, then distinguish what the museum records from your personal response. Keep its medium, Pair of six-panel folding screens; ink, color, and gold on paper, in your notes when comparing contemporary works.

• Which part of this horizontal composition catches your eye first?
• Would a 348.8 cm width still suit the space after allowing for furniture and a frame?
• What surface detail would you need to see in person or in a close photograph?