cuckoo | Nishiyama Hōen 西山芳園 | 1804-1867

Nishiyama Hōen was a student of Matsumura Keibun, who, together with his older half-brother Goshun, passed on the spirit of the great painter Maruyama Ōkyō in Kyoto in the so-called Shijō school. An important characteristic of this school is realistic accuracy, but poetry and elegance are the Set the tone. All of these elements can be found in this miniature. The plumage of the cuckoo was studied in detail, as was the bird's flight posture. The rain is poetically indicated only with fine, wide gray areas that swing elegantly into the picture. The moment of elegance is felt but also in the absence of additional motifs - no tree, no moon, no mountains. The first thing that catches the eye is the expressive head. The open beak lets you hear the cuckoo call, which the Japanese love (and poeticize) in spring just as much as we do, although its call sounds a little different.

The picture has been newly mounted, framed with a silk in rich blue, and a light grey-blue, reminiscent of the colour of rain, above and below. The two decorative bands (fūtai), which are often applied in a three-dimensional manner, are only indicated here by two strips of fabric. Such understatement also has an elegant touch

Nishiyama Hōen has been highly respected since ancient times. His works can be found not only in the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the British Museum in London, but also in many other well-known Asian art collections around the world.