与謝蕪村筆　柳緑桃紅図|Birds in Willows and Blossoming Peach Tree

Yosa Buson

Date unknown · Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk · Asian Art

Buson’s painting style translates Chinese motifs and styles into a softer, freer expression of Japanese taste. Thus, while the compositional elements here are based upon authoritative Ming and Qing prototypes, the artist executed features of the natural world with looser brushstrokes in more subdued tones. Buson gave a witty personal expression to this work, which is based on conventional Qing-dynasty painting. He juxtaposes the two birds so that the female, on the bough above, seems to peer with a critical eye at her mate below, who is self-absorbed in the joy of his own song.

Artist

Yosa Buson

Date

Date unknown

Medium

Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

The Harry G. C. Packard Collection of Asian Art, Gift of Harry G. C. Packard, and Purchase, Fletcher, Rogers, Harris Brisbane Dick, and Louis V. Bell Funds, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, and The Annenberg Fund Inc. Gift, 1975