The story
Gunjō was painting's aristocrat: ground azurite laid over gold leaf in Momoyama screens, restocked by the shogunate's official painters at prices that made apprentices grind stone for years. Ogata Kōrin's irises — pure gunjō massed on gold — and the blue-and-gold screen tradition made it the visual signature of official splendor, opposite in spirit to indigo's street blue.
