Hanging Scroll: Monkeys

Mori Sosen first studied painting with his father and took instruction from Yamamoto Joshunsai, a painter associated with the Kanō school. Later, in his late thirties, he turned to sketches and close studies of nature and developed a distinctive style of his own. He even lived for a while in the woods to observe animals in their natural habitat. His realistic and characteristic depiction of monkeys made him the best-known Japanese artist for this subject.

Here, Sosen depicts a female monkey and her baby, both holding onto a pine branch. The mother looks straight ahead with guarded eyes and the baby enjoys a relaxed moment under its mother’s care. Both monkeys are carefully painted in Sosen’s distinctive brush manner. The realistically and sensitively defined facial features of the monkeys and their softly washed and textured fur as well as the sketchy yet strategically positioned tree branches all demonstrate the outstanding skill of this great master.