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| Bird on a Snow-Covered Plum Branch |
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| Saian (active late 15th - early 16th century) |
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| Japan; Muromachi period (1392-1573), early 16th century |
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| Hanging scroll; Ink on paper |
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| Image only, H. 54 in. (137.2 cm); W. 19 3/4 in. (50.2 cm) |
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| Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection of Asian Art |
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| 1979.212 |
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| This painting by Saian illustrates one of the styles of ink painting popular in Japan in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. A singing bird perches on a snow-laden branch; the blossoms indicate the arrival of spring. A seal reading Saian is impressed in the lower right corner. Very little is known about the artist, who also painted scenes of hermitages nestled in Chinese-style landscapes, except that he was a Buddhist priest associated with the famous Shokokuji, part of the Five Mountain or gozan system of temples, in Kyoto. The powerful and expressive brushstrokes in this painting -- seen for example in the areas of wet (dark black) ink that are used to depict some of the bird's feathers and some buds on the plum tree -- are characteristics often found in Shokokuji-style monochrome paintings. |
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