Cranes of Immortality

late 1910s

Japanese, 1870 - 1931

A prolific painter and teacher, Tsuji Kakō was among the most prominent artists in Taishō-period Kyoto. In this inventive take on an ancient subject, he shows a pair of red-crowned cranes moving right to left along a beach. The cranes are rendered with multiple tones of ink and gofun, a white pigment made with crushed shells. The waves receding into the background feature a combination of azurite blue and gold washes. In the foreground, near the birds’ legs , Kakō used wet azurite and gold pigments together in a technique known as tarashikomi, developed in the early 1600s and a trademark of Japanese painting in the so-called Rinpa style during the Edo period (1615–1868). Kakō’s cranes symbolize both longevity and marital bliss.

Color on silk

Overall (incl. mounting, endknobs, hanging braid): 81 7/8 × 27 3/16 in. (208 × 69 cm)

Image: 49 3/16 × 19 5/8 in. (125 × 49.8 cm)

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

2010.41.80

Photo: Eduardo Calderon

Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Live Long and Prosper: Auspicious Motifs in East Asian Art, May 23, 2009 - February 21, 2010.

Washington, D.C., Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Sotatsu, Oct. 24, 2015 - Jan. 31, 2016. Text by Yukio Lippit and James T. Ulak. Cat. no. 54, reproduced p. 298.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Deities & Demons: Supernatural in Japanese Art, October 20, 2022 – May 18, 2025 (on view December 7, 2024 – May 18, 2025).

Published ReferencesMichiyo, Morioka; Berry, Paul. "Modern Masters of Kyoto: The Transformation of Japanese Painting Traditions," Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1999, p. 163, illus. 39.

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