Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Cockatoo on a Red Maple Branch
Gantai Japanese
Not on view
A white cockatoo perches on the branch of a maple tree turning brilliant red in autumn. The realistic presentation of this unusual bird reflects the influence of the artist’s father, Ganku, who studied at the school of Shen Nanpin, which was based in Nagasaki. Using only a limited number of pigments to create a transparent and delicate coloration, Gantai has produced a painting of subdued brilliance. An attenuated shade of the same red found in the leaves also colors the feathered areas near the bird’s skin, while lines of shell white (gofun) define the folds in the wings. During the Edo period, the non-native cockatoo was imported to Japan from Southeast Asia and India, via China, for the pleasure of the shogun and daimyō (territorial lords) who bred and displayed them as exotic creatures.
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