秋の終わりの雑木林。地面には茶色い落ち葉が散りしき、木々の幹が霧の中に立ち並んでいます。手前の木ははっきりと、奥の木ほど淡くかすんで描かれ、空と地面の境目もありません。これは菱田春草の六曲一双の屏風「落葉」の片方です。1909年（明治42年）の第3回文展で、事実上の最高賞にあたる二等賞第一席を受けました。

This is a woodland in late autumn. Brown leaves cover the ground, and tree trunks stand in the mist. The trees in front are clear, but the ones farther back become paler and paler. There is no line between the sky and the ground. This is one of a pair of six-panel screens called 'Fallen Leaves' by Hishida Shunsō. At the third Bunten exhibition in 1909, it won first place among the second prizes. No first prize was given, so this was really the top award.

春草は1908年、目の病気の療養もかねて、当時は雑木林が多く残っていた東京の代々木に移り住みました。この屏風は、その林を歩いて観察した体験から生まれたといわれます。輪郭線をほとんど使わず、色の濃さだけで遠近を表す描き方は、かつて「朦朧体」と批判された画風を、さらにみがき上げたものです。

In 1908, Shunsō moved to Yoyogi in Tokyo, partly to rest his sick eyes. At that time, Yoyogi still had many woods. This screen is said to have grown from his walks and careful observation in those woods. He used almost no outlines and showed distance only with lighter and darker colors. It was a more polished form of the 'hazy style' that critics had once attacked.

春草はこの2年後の1911年、36歳で亡くなりました。「落葉」と題した作品は、未完成のものも含めて5点が知られていますが、文展に出したのはこの永青文庫の屏風で、国の重要文化財です。永青文庫には「黒き猫」もあり、細川家の当主・細川護立は20点をこえる春草の作品を集めました。

Two years later, in 1911, Shunsō died at 36. Five works called 'Fallen Leaves' are known, including unfinished ones. The one shown at the Bunten is this pair of screens owned by the Eisei Bunko. It is an Important Cultural Property. The Eisei Bunko also owns his 'Black Cat,' and Hosokawa Moritatsu, head of the Hosokawa family, collected more than 20 of Shunsō's works.