Dreams of Edo

Some of Japan's most exquisite art exists in the form of hanging scrolls and folding screens. Japanese scrolls-usually made of silk or paper decorated with ink, gold leaf, and mineral pigments-may feature portraits or scenes from myth, Buddhist texts, everyday life, or the natural world, as in the delightful images reproduced here. Folding screens, usually composed of either two or six panels, feature a similar range of subjects, though they generally do not include religious scenes. Both beautiful and practical, these pieces are well suited to the changeable spaces inside a traditional Japanese home. Twelve elegant scrolls and screens, dating from the 18th to the 20th century, have been selected for this calendar.