Waterfowl in Snow

Dateca.1918

Maker Tsuji Kako Japanese, 1870 - 1931

Label TextA flock of ducks in mid-flight moves across dense snow in a zigzag formation. The snow energetically swirls around them, which Tsuji Kako expertly expresses through a shower of white paint. Stylized yet rhythmic, the ducks form a hypnotic pattern across this scroll. Born into a family of textile designers and trained in the realist Maruyama and Shijō school styles, Kako was a modern master of Nihonga (Japanese-style) painting in Kyoto.

Object number2010.41.23

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Reflections on Water: Japanese Modern Prints and Paintings, July 9, 2003 - Feb. 15, 2004. Washington, DC, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Sotatsu, Oct. 24, 2015 - Jan. 31, 2016. Text by Yukio Lippit and James T. Ulak. Cat. no. 53, reproduced p. 298. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Boundless: Stories of Asian Art, Feb. 8, 2020 - ongoing [on view beginning Jan. 13, 2023]. Published ReferencesMichiyo, Morioka; Berry, Paul. "Modern Masters of Kyoto: The Transformation of Japanese Painting Traditions," Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1999, p. 162, illus. 38.

Credit LineGift of Griffith and Patricia Way, in honor of the 75th Anniversary of the Seattle Art Museum

DimensionsImage: 49 x 16 7/8 in. (124.5 x 42.9 cm) Overall: 87 5/8 x 21 7/8 in. (222.6 x 55.6 cm)

MediumInk, gofun, and colors on silk