Rooster, Hen, and Hydrangeas
Itō Jakuchū (1716-1800)
Edo Period, 18th Century
Hanging Scroll, ink and colors on silk
140cm x 85 cm
Courtesy of the Etsuko and Joe Price Collection
Jakuchū undoubtedly was fascinated by chickens and roosters, as seen by his many depictions of fowl in his works. He studied them wholeheartedly, reportedly following them around for hours. This work epitomizes Jakuchū’s intense love for nature. Surrounded by roses and hydrangeas, a rooster flaunts his dramatic feathers in front of the shy hen he courts. Jakuchū intensifies the painting’s complex design through painstaking detail. The roses in the lower right corner are not painted over the hen or the foliage behind them. The lightest color of their petals is just the pure exposed silk of the scroll. Moreover, observe the rooster’s tail feathers; they are not painted over the deep blue hydrangeas. Again, the pure color of the silk shows through.
Rooster, Hen, and Hydrangeas seems to date somewhere between 1755-1757, when Jakuchū handed over his family’s greengrocer business to his brother, after which Jakuchū devoted his life solely to painting. Jakuchū painted this scroll in a small studio in Kyoto. There are also two seals alongside his signature that also appear on the painting Mandarin Ducks amid Snow-Covered Reeds, which indicates that the two paintings were probably produced around the same time.
“I saw this painting at a dealer’s shop at the same time as Mandarin Ducks amid Snow-Covered Reeds. I could not afford to buy both so I just bought Rooster, Hen, and Hydrangeas, since I already owned a similar painting to Mandarin Ducks. Though when I went home and looked at my version of the mandarin ducks, it was not nearly as good as the one I had just seen.” – Joe Price
In order to preserved their beauty for future generations, the beautiful paintings premiered in the exhibition Itō Jakuchū: A Man with No Age are on view only through June 12, 2011 to preserve their beauty for future generations.
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