Oharame, Women Peddlars

This painting shows oharame, literally young maidens of Ôhara, carrying firewood on their heads and walking beneath cherry trees in full bloom. The positioning of the large cherry tree, bamboo grove and waterwheel building on the left screen, and the still redolent atmosphere hinting of bird calls and water splashing, contrasts with the moving figures on the right screen, all evidence of Bakusen's superb compositional skills. The color buildup of the cherry petals is reminiscent of the wall panel paintings in Chishaku-in temple by Hasegawa Kyûzô, a subject that Bakusen studied prior to his creation of this work. Further, in 1915, Bakusen spent April and June in Yoshino (a famous site for cherry blossoms), and May and July in the village of Ôhara itself. Thus he can be presumed to have been taking sketches of cherry trees and "Oharame," or maidens of Ôhara. The richly decorative quality of these screens, reminiscent of Momoyama period painting, is marred only by rough, indeterminate, underdrawing-like lines that appear beneath the feet of the women. Whether an unfinished section, or created with the intention of giving a manga or anime-like effect to the work, scholars are not sure of Bakusen's intentions in this area. Further, the medium for this work is an extremely rough silk that is rarely used for painting; the artist may have chosen this material to create specific light effects. These elements all point to the experimental aspect of this work.