Roses

Roses were one of Yasui's favorite subjects. Here the Imari vase and the vivid rose petals float against the plain black background. With his 1929 Seated Lady, Yasui achieved a style in which mellow colors cover the surface, differentiated into clear-cut contours. This work, painted three years later, illustrates his use of that new style in still life paintings as well. At first glance the brushwork seems offhand and bold, but the edge of the table, slightly angled upward towards the right, the subtle placement of the vase, tilting leftward, the rose petals, spreading in beautiful balance across the picture plane, the thickness of the gray tablecloth: all show us that Yasui had carefully worked out the composition and color plan. The result, however, is a painting free of rigid formality and brimming with robust beauty.