Title unknown (Farfugium Japonicum)
題名不詳 （つわぶき）
- Birth Year
- 1855
- Death Year
- 1915
- Date
- n.d.
- Technique, Material, Format
- watercolor on paper
- Dimension
- 8.4 x 12.2 cm
- Donor name
- Mr. Ogata Tai (formerly owned by Kojima Usui)
- Category
- Watercolor or Drawing by Japanese Artist
- Inventory Number
- 2019-DRJ-004
Tufts of stone butterbur (or is it butterbur?) grow under a rustic bamboo fence. The distinctive big round leaves are clear to see. The shapes of the leaves are defined at first in a light green color before patches of a brownish color are layered on top, with the gaps in the brown forming the green leaf veins, and splotches of darker green added to create depressions. No lines are visible; the entire image consists of layers and smudges of colored paint.
Goseda Yoshimatsu learned Western oil painting, watercolor, and pencil drawing from English artist Charles Wirgman, who had resided in Yokohama after the port opened in 1859. Many of his works are quick sketches on paper capturing what he saw before him. This small sketch of plants growing in a corner of a garden or along a roadside seems to brim with the artist’s joy at experimenting with new techniques.
(SAKAMOTO Kyoko)