Cranes
Nagasawa Rosetsu 長澤蘆雪 Japanese
Not on view
This striking diptych of hanging scrolls depicts three Japanese red-crowned cranes (tanchōzuru), with no further landscape setting. With the exception of the signature patch of crimson skin on the crown of the head—painted in brilliant red and adding a vivifying touch—the cranes are rendered entirely in ink. Their poses vary, their bodies delineated through a combination of bold outlining, unpainted space, and gray wash. Nagasawa Rosetsu’s steady hand with the brush is clear, notably in the birds’ sticklike legs, juxtaposed with the ink washes at the ends of their dark feathers. The feet are also carefully placed, as Rosetsu’s mentor Maruyama Ōkyo was known to do in his own paintings of birds. The overall effect is one of surprise and humor, as if we happened upon the birds and caught them posing for the artist—or for us.
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This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.
