Ducks and Geese

Artist Kano Yasunobu (Japanese, 1614–1685)

MediumSix-fold screen: ink, color, and gold on paper

Dimensions65 3/8 x 58 inches (166.1 x 147.3 cm)

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LineGeorge and Mary Rockwell Collection

Terms

Decorative Arts
Screen
Six-fold screen: ink, color, and gold
Animals
Birds
Bodies of water
Ducks
Geese
Rock
Trees
Waves
Paper
Japanese

Object number88.002.205

Label CopyAfter Kano Tanyu (1602-1674) became the official painter to the shogun, he paved the way for his younger brothers Naonobu (1607-1650) and Yasunobu to also receive favored status as oku eshi (Painters of the Inner Court) in service to the Tokugawa shogunate, Japan's ruling family. In their ink painting style Kano school artists followed Chinese Southern Song conventions as interpreted by the Japanese painter Sesshu (1420-1506) and his followers. Features of this conservative style include abbreviated pictorial elements juxtaposed with misty expanses, and the so-called "axe-cut" brush strokes that form the jagged rocks. The auspicious subject matter of this screen includes pairs of ducks and geese, emblems of marital bliss and fidelity, while the central rocky island in the waves might be a reference to the paradise of the isles of the immortals.

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