Sparrows Alighting on Wisteria
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.Rosetsu apparently enjoyed painting birds, especially sparrows, and produced many such works during his lifetime. In most of these, at least one of the sparrows is looking straight out of the painting, as if addressing the viewer directly. In this work there are two such birds among the seventeen that are either in flight or already alighted on the blossoming wisteria vine. By stretching the wisteria across the full length of the scroll, the composition makes skillful use of the painting’s tall and narrow format. The sparrows and wisteria are rendered in the mokkotsu (“boneless,” meaning without ink outlines) technique, which Rosetsu learned from Maruyama Ōkyo.
Rosetsu at first trained under Ōkyo, but was thought to have established himself as an independent painter around the age of 27. The artist’s monochrome ink paintings feature bold brushwork and pictorial compositions, but he also developed an individual style in paintings in color. The painting is signed “Rosetsu sha” and has two intaglio seals, “Nagasawa” and “Gyo.”
Rosetsu at first trained under Ōkyo, but was thought to have established himself as an independent painter around the age of 27. The artist’s monochrome ink paintings feature bold brushwork and pictorial compositions, but he also developed an individual style in paintings in color. The painting is signed “Rosetsu sha” and has two intaglio seals, “Nagasawa” and “Gyo.”
Artwork Details
- Title: Sparrows Alighting on Wisteria
- Artist: Nagasawa Rosetsu (Japanese, 1754–1799)
- Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
- Date: ca. 1795–99
- Culture: Japan
- Medium: Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
- Dimensions: Image: 37 × 13 1/16 in. (94 × 33.1 cm)
Overall with mounting: 67 15/16 × 17 3/16 in. (172.5 × 43.7 cm) - Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Lent by Feinberg Collection
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art