(Autumn flowers and singing insects) by Kō Sūkoku II

(Autumn flowers and singing insects) c. 1850s

print, ink, color-on-paper

print

pen sketch

etching

japan

personal sketchbook

ink

color-on-paper

ink drawing experimentation

pen work

sketchbook drawing

watercolour bleed

watercolour illustration

sketchbook art

watercolor

Kō Sūkoku II's "Autumn flowers and singing insects" is a delicate ink-and-wash painting from the 1850s. The small-scale work features a minimalist composition with a line of graceful flowers along the bottom of the sheet, interspersed with insects and a single butterfly. The image is framed by a few simple grasses and leaves at the right edge and a column of poetry, written in calligraphy, on the left. This drawing is characteristic of Sūkoku II's style, known for its elegant simplicity and subtle beauty.

Comments

minneapolisinstituteofart about 1 year ago

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Japanese artists frequently pictured animals aping the actions of humans. This print, however, shows a band of singing crickets marching through the field. The insect at the front looks like a conductor. While some are holding clarinet-like instruments, the others carry bellflowers and other autumn flowers. The background is filled with tasseled pampas grass and flowering bush clover. The harvest moon is partially defined by the encircling gradations of blue pigment. These details indicate the height of autumn when the fields are filled with the sound of singing insects.