Insects and Grasses

dated 1847

Not on view

This consummate summer subject, painted by Nagoya literatus Yamamoto Baiitsu in his mature period, shows his mastery of the "boneless" brushwork technique and his deft powers of observation. Each of the more than fifty insects on this scroll, many lifted lightheartedly from the pages of the Chinese Mustard Seed Garden Manual, are given life and movement through the most economical of painted means. The composition, too, is particularly effective, launching the flying and crawling insects across the horizontal space in an extended arabesque.

At the end of the scroll, on the left, the artist's signature and date are given.

Artwork Details

Title: Insects and Grasses
Artist: Yamamoto Baiitsu (Japanese, 1783–1856)
Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
Date: dated 1847
Culture: Japan
Medium: Handscroll; ink and color on silk
Dimensions: Image: 8 1/4 x 95 in. (21 x 241.3 cm)
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Purchase, Friends of Asian Art Gifts, 1995
Object Number: 1995.247
Curatorial Department: Asian Art

More Artwork

By Yamamoto Baiitsu

In the same medium

From the same time and place

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Plum Blossoms, Yamamoto Baiitsu Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink on silk, Japan — Plum Blossoms
Yamamoto Baiitsu
dated 1851

Peaches, Pomegranate, and Fingered Citron, Yamamoto Baiitsu Japanese, Folding fan; ink and color on paper, Japan — Peaches, Pomegranate, and Fingered Citron
Yamamoto Baiitsu
1832

"Refined Elegance in the Four Seasons" (Shiji seiga), Album of Flower Paintings, Yamamoto Baiitsu Japanese, Album of twelve leaves; ink on paper, Japan — "Refined Elegance in the Four Seasons" (Shiji seiga), Album of Flower Paintings
Yamamoto Baiitsu
1844

Wild Hawk on a Tree, Yamamoto Baiitsu Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink on satin, Japan — Wild Hawk on a Tree
Yamamoto Baiitsu
1838

Landscapes of the Four Seasons, Yamamoto Baiitsu Japanese, Set of four hanging scrolls; ink and color on silk, Japan — Landscapes of the Four Seasons
Yamamoto Baiitsu
1848

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