https://emuseum.cornell.edu/internal/media/dispatcher/75927/fullDucks and Geese65 3/8 x 58 inches (166.1 x 147.3 cm)Six-fold screen: ink, color, and gold on paperGeorge and Mary Rockwell Collection88.002.2050Signed at lower left of left panel: Bokushinsai fude. Seal below signature: Two ducks sitting on a rock amid rolling waves, lower left. In central ground: a twisted tree on a gnarled, eccentrically shaped rock in the waves. Upper left: two geese (?) in flight. Painting in good condition, with some evidence of repairs all over in the background. A few cracks, not large or obvious, but should be watched. One below bird in flight. Paper backing of screen: some tears and puctures, esp. on end panels. (looking toward the back:) largest tear at lower right of right panel similar to kick mark (?). In the central portion of the right panel backing, several tears, one wavy, patches where paper is missing. Upper left, wood frame exposed in area about 1-1 1/2 inch square. Left end panel backing: puncture in middle back toward edge, and a smaller puncture in lower center. Probably should take a poloroid of the end panel backings.Paintings18623724599Kano YasunobuAfter 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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