Mori Sosen
1747–1821 · Japanese painting · 4 works
Mori Sosen gives monkeys distinct gestures and relationships. One hangs from a branch, while others huddle together or sit among rocks and leaves. Soft passages of ink describe fur, with sharper marks around faces, hands and vegetation. Watch how the animals’ eyes and limbs establish an exchange within the group, even when the surrounding landscape is only lightly suggested.
4 works · 1780–1821
Look for the smallest monkeys and trace how the adults’ arms surround them.
Chōbunsai Eishi
Nanamachi of the Yotsumeya with Attendants Sumano and Akashi, c. 1787
Hon’ami Kōetsu
A Poem from the Shin Kokinshu with Design of Shinobugusa (Moss Fern), 1605-10
Ike Taiga
Fishing in a Springtime Valley, 1700s
