Preparatory sketch on paper in black ink and colour pigment of a crane diving down to the turbulent sea below, dated 1894. Japan is home to the red-crested crane and the birds were a popular motif in Chinese and Japanese painting, associated with longevity, purity and seclusion due to its ability to fly. Placing the bird convincingly in various poses offered the painter a challenge. The lone bird here replicates the pose in a famous Ming-dynasty Chinese painting in the temple Shōkokuji in Kyoto.
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