Phoenixes

Phoenixes

This painting depicts a pair of phoenixes perched in a maple tree. The birds are brightly colored, with pink, blue, and green plumage. In a unique expression of texture, they have thick, furry manes down their backs to their wings. There are no figures in the background of the painting. However, the phoenixes are grounded by the cliff from which the maple branches emerge. The appearances of the phoenixes act as an excellent example of Maruyama's naturalist art. The wings and bodies of the phoenixes are rendered with excellent adherence to the anatomy of real birds.

Maruyama Ōkyo, 円山 応挙, or 圓山 應舉

Shinenkan Collection, Los Angelas County Museum of Art, CA, USA. http://www.lacma.org/

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

c. 1783

Harold P. Stern

public domain

Japanese