Old Pine Tree and White Rooster and Hen
Title
Old Pine Tree and White Rooster and Hen
Description
One of the many chicken and rooster paintings from the "Colorful Realm of Living Beings" set, this painting depicts a white rooster and hen high in a pine tree beneath a red sun. Itō Jakuchū was an avid chicken painter, the fowl becoming primary motifs in the majority of his works. This is one of the only two compositions that depict the sun. Interestingly, this composition shares many elements with Jakuchū's later painting, Old Pine Tree and White Phoenix. The central figures of both compositions are large white birds standing in a pine tree. The birds have bright red markings, that match the brilliant red of the suns in the upper-right side of the composition. Uniquely, the combination of the white rooster and red sun in this composition is associated with elements of yang, the opposite of darkness and night.
Creator
Itō Jakuchū, 伊藤 若冲
Source
Colorful Realm of Living Beings, Museum of Imperial Collections, Tokyo, Japan
Publisher
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.
Date
c. 1759 - 1761
Contributor
Yukio Lippit
Rights
public domain
Relation
Colorful Realm of Living Beings
Format
painted hanging scroll
Language
Japanese
- Date Added
- April 27, 2015
- Collection
- Momoyama and Edo Period Items
- Tags
- Edo
- Citation
- Itō Jakuchū, 伊藤 若冲, “Old Pine Tree and White Rooster and Hen,” Japanese Phoenixes between the Momoyama (1568 - 1603) and Edo Periods (1603 - 1868), accessed May 11, 2024, https://lsnowdonarthist.omeka.net/items/show/12.