Monkey

Amongst Kansetsu’s monkey paintings, isolated Black Crested Gibbons are most impressive as seen in “Black Monkey.” Kansetsu, however, decided to portray the Japanese macaque in this picture to make a painting familiar to Japanese people. At the end of autumn, a monkey climbs an old persimmon tree. He is pulling the branch to get at the fruit. The monkey’s face is unique and warm. The meticulous attention to detail of the monkey and the bold touch of the tree make for good contrast in this painting. Kansetsu’s attention to detail can also be seen in the transparent line originating from the monkey’s eyes and ending at the persimmon fruit which is crossed over a leaning tree trunk.