panels, not more than wide. Allan West ( 1962), who studied with Matazo Kayama Tokyo University of the Arts from 1989–1992, paints hanging scrolls, fans and folding screens: West has been commissioned to create many folding screens which are found in hotels, offices and concert halls throughout Japan. Similar to West, but based in Europe, Benjamin Gordon ( 1968) is an American painter whose focus is Japanese genres. While his subject matter and treatment captures the spirit of Japanese painting, unlike the painters, Gordon paints with oil paints, creating multiple layers of translucent color. Gordon's screens are distinguished by the lack of a black outer frame. Instead, he uses unconventional fabrics for both the front and the back of his screens, which adds a layer of commentary or meaning to the subject of the painting. Gordon and Ichiro Kikuta ( 1961) are both unique among folding screen artists: both artists are craftsmen as well as painters (these functions are usually fulfilled by two persons: the painter and the artisan), constructing the wooden frames (or in Japanese) in the traditional manner. Kikuta's are immediately recognizable by their subject matter of birds and animals of Yambaru (forest area located near Kikuta's home in the northern part of Okinawa Island), and by the paper backs of the screens, on which woodcut patterns of fern fronds are printed. See also List of partitions of traditional Japanese architecture (textile curtain on a portable stand) (textile doorhanging) (reed blind) References External links Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System Byoubu entry Momoyama, Japanese Art in the Age of Grandeur, an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on byōbu Byobu: The Grandeur of Japanese Screens, a companion Web site to an exhibition at the Yale University Art Gallery, which contains images and descriptions of noteworthy byōbu. Japanese furniture Japanese words and phrases Partitions in traditional Japanese architecture Portable furniture