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Japanese Two Panel Lacquer Screen: Cormorants Among the Waves with Abstract Coastal Landscape

This Japanese two-panel lacquer screen shows cormorants within a highly stylized coastal setting, combining traditional subject matter with a distinctly modern compositional approach. Repeating linear wave motifs create a continuous, rhythmic field across both panels, while sharply abstracted black cliffs, edged in gold, introduce a strong architectural counterpoint. The restrained palette and emphasis on pattern reflect developments in Japanese decorative arts during the early modern period, when abstraction and graphic clarity were increasingly explored. Executed in lacquer pigment on a lacquered core frame, the screen demonstrates a refined command of the medium, balancing precision with visual depth. Signed Ei, the work exemplifies the synthesis of pictorial narrative and decorative design characteristic of sophisticated Japanese screen painting.