Yamashita Chikusai (1885–1973)
Fishing Village in Spring
Japan, late 1910s
Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
Gift of Terry Welch, 2021 (2021-03-074)
VIEW HI-RES IMAGE
This innovative composition fills the foreground with imposing cypress trees, situating the viewer at a high vantage point above them. The black ink of the trees is echoed by three tiny fishing boats that lead the viewer’s gaze to the right, where the main subject of a rural fishing village occupies the midground. The sea extends beyond the village into the background, where another village lies at the foot of a small island in the distance. The heavy ink of the foreground effectively contrasts with the light colors, which convey the spring season, in the rest of the composition.
The enthusiasm for modernization in the early Meiji period was tempered by a realization of the profound changes this advancement caused. In the first decades of the 1900s artists began to favor rural scenes, which in many cases were quickly disappearing. Chikusai was widely admired for his superb landscapes, and he was a regular contributor to the annual national exhibition, winning an impressive eight consecutive prizes, including the top award.
Further listening
Chikusai innovates traditional compositional approaches to landscape painting by emphasizing the foreground through the placement of imposing cypress trees. He situates the viewer outside the scene at a high vantage point and gives unusual weight to the lower third of the painting. The black ink of the trees is echoed by three tiny fishing boats that lead the viewer’s gaze to the right, where the main subject of a rural fishing village occupies the middle ground. The sea extends beyond the village into the background, where another village lies at the foot of a small island in the distance. The heavy ink of the foreground effectively contrasts with the light colors, which convey the season as spring, in the rest of the composition.