Hawk Grasping a Small Bird

mid-19th century

Not on view

Tsubaki Chinzan's versatility as a painter in the cultivated nanga style and as a portraitist of nature is underlined in this bold composition in which the absence of surrounding detail forces us to observe closely the hawk with its captured prey. Here is the world of flux—a natural order, where the supremacy of this proud hawk is determined by its swift wing, not unlike the prowess of the samurai, the class to which Chinzan belonged. The hawk alights on the sharply defined bamboo fronds, whose energized lines echo the shape of the bird's talons. The sharpness of the hawk's eye and the grasping motion of the protruding bamboo leaves above its head fracture the empty space in which the viewer may contemplate the other bird's uncertain fate.

Artwork Details

Overview

Provenance

Exhibition History

References

Title: Hawk Grasping a Small Bird
Artist: Tsubaki Chinzan (Japanese, 1801–1854)
Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
Date: mid-19th century
Culture: Japan
Medium: Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
Dimensions: 65 7/8 x 33 1/4 in. (167.3 x 84.4 cm)
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: The Harry G. C. Packard Collection of Asian Art, Gift of Harry G. C. Packard, and Purchase, Fletcher, Rogers, Harris Brisbane Dick, and Louis V. Bell Funds, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, and The Annenberg Fund Inc. Gift, 1975
Object Number: 1975.268.119
Curatorial Department: Asian Art

More Artwork

By Tsubaki Chinzan

In the same medium

From the same time and place

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Peony and Swallow, Tsubaki Chinzan Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper, Japan — Peony and Swallow
Tsubaki Chinzan
1854

Rock and Autumn Flowers, Tsubaki Chinzan Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper, Japan — Rock and Autumn Flowers
Tsubaki Chinzan
1854

Small Birds on a Willow Branch and Hibiscus Blossoms, Tsubaki Chinzan Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper, Japan — Small Birds on a Willow Branch and Hibiscus Blossoms
Tsubaki Chinzan
1850

Small Bird on a Crepe Myrtle Branch, Tsubaki Chinzan Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk, Japan — Small Bird on a Crepe Myrtle Branch
Tsubaki Chinzan
ca. 1850s

Red and White Peach Blossoms, Preparatory Sketch, Tsubaki Chinzan Japanese, Hanging scroll; color on paper, Japan — Red and White Peach Blossoms, Preparatory Sketch
Tsubaki Chinzan
1843

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