Monkey on a Rock; Monkey Trainer with Chinese Children and Puppy
Nagasawa Rosetsu Japanese
Not on view
Nagasawa Rosetsu, the son of a low-ranking samurai, was adopted by a Kyoto family and studied painting with Maruyama Ōkyo (1733–1795), the leading realist painter of the era. Following Ōkyo’s style, especially his naturalistic depiction of animals, birds, and fish, Rosetsu established a reputation as an eccentric but imaginative and popular artist. In this pair of paintings, he shows, at right, a macaque perched atop a rock entwined with pink-colored vines. In the left scroll, a man, probably a monkey trainer, appears startled by his companions: two young boys and a puppy. Monkeys, children, and puppies are subjects Rosetsu turned to time and again over the course of his relatively brief career.
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