Plum Blossoms and Cranes

Plum Blossoms and Cranes

Five white cranes with red crests rest in front of a blooming plum tree. This painting garnered attention for the complex web of crane legs at the base of the painting. The maze makes it difficult to ascertain which pair is attached to which bird. The maze-like qualities of this composition are also seen in the entanglement of the cranes' beaks and the plum tree branches. The cranes' beaks are lost in the jagged edges of the plum blossoms. The delicate, lattice-like patterns of the cranes' feathers are mirrored by the lacy plum blossoms. Each of these elements are delicately shaded, using multiple layers of pigments. Some iridescence is achieved by using shell pigments on the front and back of the silk.

Itō Jakuchū, 伊藤 若冲

Colorful Realm of Living Beings, Museum of Imperial Collections, Tokyo, Japan

http://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb.html National Gallery of Art, D.C, http://www.kunaicho.go.jp/e-event/sannomaru02.html Museum of Imperial Collections, Tokyo, Japan.

c. 1761 - 1765

Yukio Lippit

educational

Colorful Realm of Living Beings

painted hanging scroll

Japanese