Style Imitating Art | Irises Screen by Ogata Kōrin

About Style Imitating Art

Style Imitating Art is hosted by Salazar of 14 Shades of Grey, Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge, and Marsha of Marsha in the Middle. It challenges us to draw style inspiration from pieces of art. Every other Monday, one of the hosts, acting as presenter, selects an inspiration image that they will each post on their blogs. The following Monday, each host shares her art inspired outfit. Participants are invited to submit their art inspired outfits to the presenter by 10:00 p.m. EST on the Tuesday following the hosts’ art inspired outfit posts. The following day, Wednesday, the presenter will share all of the submissions on her blog.

You don’t have to be a blogger to join either! In fact, you don’t even have to join but you can still use the art to inspire an outfit just for the sake of trying something different. If you want to share your inspired outfit, we invite you do so on Instagram or any other social media platform that you prefer. Just be sure to tag Salazar, Shelbee, or Marsha so we know you have joined. Go have some fun in your closets and join the SIA challenge next week!

This Week’s Presenter

Salazar chose this week’s art inspiration by Japanese artist Ogata Kōrin. The painted screen was made in the early 18th century and is now a National Treasure of Japan. Salazar chose this work because its influence on Van Gogh’s iris paintings is clear. Van Gogh’s Still Life with Irises was the art inspiration for a previous SIA challenge way back in January 2019 (before I began participating). Since that first iris painting was featured during the winter season and irises are summer flowers, Salazar wanted to give this image of irises a try for the summer season as well.

The Artwork

Irises screen by Ogata Kōrin

About the Artist: Ogata Kōrin

Born in 1658 in Kyoto, Japan, Ogata Kōrin was the second of three sons of a wealthy merchant family. The family business, Karigane-ya, designed and sold fine textiles to the aristocratic city women. Kōrin’s father, Ogata Sōken, was a noted calligrapher who introduced his sons to the arts when they were young. As children of a wealthy urban family, the Ogata boys received an education that was typical for people of their social status, which included painting and calligraphy lessons. Kōrin’s younger brother Kenzan became a celebrated potter and painter in his own right and the two brothers often collaborated.

However, during their school years, Kōrin was much more interested in theater than painting. Despite his disinterest, he continued receiving painting lessons, most likely from members of the Kanō school, which was the dominant style of Japanese painting from the 15th century until the mid-1800s. Kōrin’s later more mature works show the obvious influence of his great-granduncle Hon’ami Kōetsu and the painter Tawaraya Sōtatsu.

Upon Sōken’s death in 1687, the eldest brother took over the family business while Kōrin and Kenzan received considerable inheritances which allowed them to enjoy active and carefree social lives. However, Kōrin’s spending habits caused some financial difficulties, forcing him to pawn some of his most treasured possessions.

Kōrin didn’t establish himself as a professional artist until later in his life. In 1701, he was given the title of hokkyō, the third highest honor awarded to Buddhist artists. He relocated to Edo (now Tokyo) in 1704 to find more lucrative commissions for his work. During his time in Edo, Kōrin studied the ink paintings of the medieval monks Sesshū Tōyō and Sesson Shukei who became important influences on his future works. Most of Kōrin’s earliest masterpieces date to this period.

He returned to Kyoto in 1709 and built a house with an atelier on Shinmachi Street in 1712 where he lived the final years of his life. It is believed that his final masterpieces were painted in this home.

During his short artistic career, Ogata Kōrin became well know as a skilled landscape illustrator, lacquerer, painter, and textile designer. His best known works are his byōbu folding screens and his paintings on ceramics and lacquerware that were produced by his brother Kenzan. He was a prolific designer who incorporated his art into a variety of different decorative and practical items such as round fans, writing boxes, and medicine cases. Kōrin is also credited with reviving the Rinpa School of Japanese painting fifty years after its foundation.

On a personal level, Kōrin had a penchant for romantic encounters that often had unfortunate outcomes. In the decade following his father’s death, Kōrin himself fathered at least four illegitimate children with at least three different women. Due to his carelessness and libertine lifestyle, he was essentially a bankrupt deadbeat dad before he turned 40. However, he did get married in 1697, just before his 40th birthday, and spent the next two decades digging himself out of debt.

Famous but impoverished, Kōrin died on June 2, 1716, at the age of 59. He is buried at the Myōken-ji temple in Kyoto.

About the Artwork: Irises Screen

Ogata Kōrin’s Irises is a pair of six-panel folding screens depicting an abstract view of water containing drifts of Japanese irises. The work is dated circa 1701–1705, during Kōrin’s time in Edo.

The panels were created with ink, color, and gold leaf on paper and show abstract images of Japanese irises in bloom with their saturated green foliage. The blooms appear with rhythmic repetition and a varying pattern across the panels, likely created by using a stencil. The color palette is limited to the ultramarine blue of the flowers (made from powdered azurite), the green of the foliage, and the gold background of the panels. First the irises were painted with ink and color on paper. Then gold leaf was applied around the painted images to create a reflective background that shimmers like water. Each six panel screen measures 59.4 in × 133.4 in (150.9 by 338.8 cm).

For over 200 years, the screens were housed in the Nishi Honganji Buddhist temple in Kyoto. Considered a National Treasure of Japan, the screens are now held by the Nezu Museum in Tokyo. Some years later, Kōrin created a second similar set of iris screens which are currently held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Both sets of screens were inspired by a story in The Tales of Ise and in turn have influenced the paintings of Vincent Van Gogh, especially his 1889 oil on canvas Irises.

Helpful Links:

• Wikipedia: Ogata Kōrin
• Wikipedia: Irises screen
• Britannica: Ogata Kōrin
• The Japan Times: ‘Ogata Korin’: The libertine artist who made beauty his business

About My Outfit

I focused on the deep dark blues of the iris petals when I chose this navy blue and white floral slip dress. It is very difficult to see in the photos, but the floral print on my dress also has little bits of goldish tan in the outline of the flowers that is very close to the gold background of the panels. I added a newly thrifted dark blue lace kimono robe which seemed to match my dress perfectly.

To bring in some green for the foliage, I added a bunch of green accessories including my olive green wide brimmed straw sun hat, a preloved floral scarf featuring lots of green foliage, green beaded hoop earrings, my green tree of life necklace, a green chain necklace, and two multicolored stone chokers with some bits of green. Lastly, I decided to bring out my green eel skin cowgirl boots, not just for the green, but the tan part is close to the gold color of the artwork and the lines of the eel skin closely resemble the lines between the panels.

The colors of my outfit are a bit darker, more saturated, and less vibrant than the blues, greens, and gold of the artwork and the floral print does not depict irises at all, but I am very satisfied with how well this combination turned out to represent the artwork and fulfill the style challenge. I am also really pleased with this outfit combination because it is very much me. I will definitely wear this outfit again!

I hope you have enjoyed this round of Style Imitating Art. Be sure to check out how Salazar and Marsha have styled their outfits inspired by these gorgeous screens. If you would like to participate in this Style Imitating Art challenge and have your outfit included in Salazar’s round up post on Wednesday, June 17, 2026, please be sure to send your photos to her at 14shadesofgreyblog@gmail.com by 10:00 p.m. EST on Tuesday, June 16, 2026.

Happy styling!

Shelbee