Whales and Whale Oil 1829

Curator: This print, Hasegawa Settan’s "Whales and Whale Oil," made in 1829, feels intensely focused. There’s an economy of line that really drives the composition. It’s currently housed here at The Met. What is your initial impression of this piece? Editor: My first reaction is one of deep tranquility tinged with melancholy. The muted tones, the still water, even the leviathans have a quiet stillness. But then, reading the title, it feels as though the artist hints to something somber. Curator: Indeed. The print is part of a larger body of work that documented the natural history and economic activities of Japan during the Edo period. Settan captures the grandeur of whales alongside the burgeoning industry of whale oil production. Look closely; how does Settan frame this contrast? Editor: Structurally, the whales dominate the lower registers, their immense forms rendered with such delicate detail. I think this use of contrast calls attention to a collision of nature and human enterprise. The landscape, with its scattering of tiny boats, is almost dwarfed by their presence. It certainly invokes questions of scale, doesn't it? The whales almost seem more at one with the earth while the boats disrupt that image, that scene of perfect equilibrium. Curator: Absolutely. The precision of the ink drawing, that use of negative space to create depth… it encourages us to consider humanity's impact. Are we participants or observers? Do we have a natural and deserved part in it? Or are we destroying the nature surrounding us? It has an elegiac quality. The formal restraint amplifies that, don't you think? Editor: Precisely, it also resonates powerfully today. As though we were not headed for the same tragic end for ourselves as for nature. Settan masterfully interweaves visual simplicity with layers of meaning through his stark black and white aesthetic and placement. Curator: This piece prompts us to think about our changing relationship with nature, in very simple and understated tones. Settan asks big questions through deceptively subtle methods.