Hanging scroll
Dateca. 1550
Label TextA squirrel eyes a bunch of juicy loquat fruits from his perch on a lower branch. Motonobu’s composition is inspired by the works of earlier Japanese ink painters who began painting this subject in monochrome ink in the 1300s based on pictures introduced from China.
Kano Motonobu was the second-generation head of the Kano family of painters, which began in Kyoto in the late 1400s with his father, Masanobu. Motonobu expanded the effort into a successful painting workshop specializing in pictures modelled after Chinese masters and a distinctive blend of Japanese and Chinese styles that captivated contemporary audiences. He trained both his son, Shо̄ei, and his wildly successful grandson, the prodigy Eitoku. During these four generations, the Kano family of painters came to dominate mainstream Japanese painting. Their descendants continued to do so from studios in cities across Japan into the late 1800s.
Object number92.47.321
ProvenanceFrank D. Stout; Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 1992
Photo CreditPhoto: Spike Mafford
Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, A Thousand Years of Beauty: Japanese Art in Seattle, July 16, 2001 - November 17, 2002.Credit LineGift of Frank D. Stout
DimensionsOverall (incl endknobs): 56 5/16 × 18 11/16 in. (143 × 47.5 cm)
Image: 19 3/4 × 11 1/2 in. (50.2 × 29.2 cm)
MediumInk on paper
Object number: 98.47.72
Object number: 35.618.2
Object number: 2023.11.259
Chinese
late 18th century
Object number: 96.40
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