Winter Scene with Ducks and Pine Trees
On loan to The Met
This work of art is currently on loan to the museum.Matsumura Goshun’s composition conveys the quiet, gentle mood of a winter’s day—not harshly frigid but refreshingly brisk. The soft blue of the pond on which ducks float contributes to the placid feeling. While retaining elements of Yosa Buson’s poetic sensibilities, the painting demonstrates how Goshun was drawn to Maruyama Ōkyo’s style. The snowscape is created without any particular emphasis on brushwork; indeed, most of the silk surface is left in reserve. Pine trees are given dimensionality through the selective application of ink wash. The calligraphic style of the signature, reading “Goshun,” combined with the oval “Goshun” seal, places the work in the late 1790s.
Artwork Details
- 松村呉春筆 雪中松に鴨図
- Title: Winter Scene with Ducks and Pine Trees
- Artist: Matsumura Goshun (Japanese, 1752–1811)
- Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
- Date: late 1790s
- Culture: Japan
- Medium: Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
- Dimensions: Image: 15 7/8 × 28 1/2 in. (40.4 × 72.4 cm)
Overall with knobs: 57 7/8 × 36 13/16 in. (147 × 93.5 cm)
Overall with mounting: 57 7/8 × 34 7/16 in. (147 × 87.5 cm) - Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Fishbein-Bender Collection, Promised Gift of T. Richard Fishbein and Estelle P. Bender
- Object Number: L.2019.10.15a–d
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art