Ducks in the Snow

Gyokusho always used to say that an artist should make sketches whenever he had the time. He was a master of the tsuketate method, in which he would rapidly sketch the scene using the mokkotsu (“boneless”) technique, painting in ink directly on the paper without outlines.

Kawabata Gyokusho (given name: Takinosuke) was born in Kyoto and initially learned the painting style of the Maruyama school from Nakajima Raisho. In 1866, he moved to Edo, where in the first year of the Meiji era, he also studied Western style painting under Takahashi Yuichi. When the Tokyo Fine Arts School was established, he was invited by Okakura Tenshin to beacome professor and stayed there even after the turmoil of 1898, until 1912. Gyokusho also served as a Court Artist and as a juror for the Bunten (Ministry of Education Exhibition). Ducks in the snow was painted around the time the School was founded, and a large color-on-paper preparatory drawing also remains in the University Art Museum collection. Against a snowcovered background, a flock of wild ducks fly off in a flutter. It is a classical Maruyama-school theme, but Gyokusho has captured the flapping of the birds’ wings well with his realistic rendering and mature, skillful brushwork. In addition, the birds facing toward the front have been depicted using the Western method of foreshortening, indicating how Gyokusho not only continued the classical tradition but also brimmed with an innovative spirit. (Writer : Tamon Takase Source : Selected Masterpieces from The University Art Museum, Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music: Grand Opening Exhibition, The University Art Museum, Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, 1999)