Waterfowl in Snow

ca.1918

Japanese, 1870 - 1931

A 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.

Ink, gofun, and colors on silk

Image: 49 × 16 7/8 in. (124.5 × 42.9 cm)

Overall: 87 5/8 × 21 7/8 in. (222.6 × 55.6 cm)

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

2010.41.23

Not currently on view

Resources

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.

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