Rain is pouring down on a heavily wooded slope. Fine lines flicker in light brown and green, as if merging with the colors of the dirt and leaves behind. Looking at the slightly blurred dark brown lines of the tree trunks feels like trying to peer through a downpour, and you can almost hear the rain echoing from the image.
Nihonga (modern Japanese-style painting) artists such as Yokoyama Taikan and Hishida Shunso had introduced a new method of depicting rain using smudges of ink and color to convey the heavy atmosphere. Imamura Shiko shared their desire to expand Nihonga’s horizons, but he also stubbornly resisted the tendency of artists to coalesce around a particular approach and so deliberately retained a respect and affection for older traditions as well. His return to the use of lines to depict rain in this painting is an example of his way of thinking.
(SAKAMOTO Kyoko)
Rain is pouring down on a heavily wooded slope. Fine lines flicker in light brown and green, as if merging with the colors of the dirt and leaves behind. Looking at the slightly blurred dark brown lines of the tree trunks feels like trying to peer through a downpour, and you can almost hear the rain echoing from the image.
Nihonga (modern Japanese-style painting) artists such as Yokoyama Taikan and Hishida Shunso had introduced a new method of depicting rain using smudges of ink and color to convey the heavy atmosphere. Imamura Shiko shared their desire to expand Nihonga’s horizons, but he also stubbornly resisted the tendency of artists to coalesce around a particular approach and so deliberately retained a respect and affection for older traditions as well. His return to the use of lines to depict rain in this painting is an example of his way of thinking.
(SAKAMOTO Kyoko)