Sitting Tiger Roaring with the Wind c. late 18th century

Editor: This is "Sitting Tiger Roaring with the Wind" from the late 18th century, created by Nagasawa Rosetsu. It's an ink and watercolour hanging scroll and it strikes me as quite fierce, yet almost playful in its depiction of the tiger. What are your initial impressions of it? Curator: Playful is a lovely word for it, actually! It's not the roaring that grabs me, but the setting—the spare ink washes create this sense of ephemeral space, almost like the tiger is a thought forming on the breeze. I love how Rosetsu captures that sense of vital energy with what feels like so little. Doesn't it remind you how fleeting and precious every moment can be? The rough textures suggest the unforgiving elements; they balance a meditative calm with the brutal nature of reality... or perhaps it’s only the way *I* like to feel the moment... Editor: It's interesting you mention the space. I was so focused on the tiger that I hadn't considered how the negative space contributed. Curator: Oh, but that space *is* the wind, isn’t it? I wonder, if there’s no wind, would there still be a roar? Without that, do you think this powerful tiger could remain a mere figment of someone's beautiful imagination? Editor: So the wind is as crucial as the tiger himself. The context shapes our perception. Curator: Precisely! Art is all about perception, isn’t it? Do we seek raw realism or something truer to the soul's expression? Which one would *you* pursue? Editor: I guess, that’s the artistic dilemma that I need to continue thinking about in art history and art making. I’ll ponder this... Curator: Indeed, it's in those spaces for thought, those winds of contemplation, that meaning is discovered. A single, eternal exhale and inhale in pursuit of oneself.