長澤蘆雪筆　岩上猿・猿回し師唐子狗児図|Monkey on a Rock; Monkey Trainer with Chinese Children and Puppy

Nagasawa Rosetsu

late 1790s · Pair of paintings; ink and color on paper · Asian Art

Nagasawa Rosetsu, the son of a low-ranking samurai, was adopted by a Kyoto family and studied painting with Maruyama Ōkyo (1733–1795), the leading realist painter of the era. Following Ōkyo’s style, especially his naturalistic depiction of animals, birds, and fish, Rosetsu established a reputation as an eccentric but imaginative and popular artist. In this pair of paintings, he shows, at right, a macaque perched atop a rock entwined with pink-colored vines. In the left scroll, a man, probably a monkey trainer, appears startled by his companions: two young boys and a puppy. Monkeys, children, and puppies are subjects Rosetsu turned to time and again over the course of his relatively brief career.

Artist

Nagasawa Rosetsu

Date

late 1790s

Medium

Pair of paintings; ink and color on paper

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Gift of Florence and Herbert Irving, 2020