Puppies, Sparrows and Chrysanthemums

Rosetsu is regarded as one of the most versatile painters of 18th-century Japan. He studied in Kyoto, Japan's cultural capital, and enjoyed a successful career as an independent artist rather than as a more conservative "school" artist. Originally, these four paintings were mounted on the wall panels used to define room spaces in traditional Japanese interiors. The light wood panels slide along grooves, allowing interior spaces to change with minimal effort. The round circular areas in the paintings' paper surfaces, each surrounded by a dark halo of embedded dirt and finger oils, indicate the location of the door "catches."