Crows on Willow, Yamada Kōun

Exhibition Label:
"Selections for the Summer," Jun-2006, Mary Dusenbury
Crows, scorched black by their mythic ability to fly near the sun, were both a common nuisance in Japan and the stuff of legends. Associated with the sun goddess Amaterasu Ōmikami, they were believed to be messengers of the gods and to possess supernatural powers.

Yamada Kōun was one of a group of Kyoto artists committed to preserving inherited painting styles in an increasingly Westernized Japan. These nihonga (“Japanese painting“) artists blended various traditional styles and techniques to forge new interpretations of traditional themes.

The solitary crow on the right screen is formed of dark and light washes layered without outline. On the left, five crows, rendered in short, confident brushstrokes, cluster on a branch. Engaged with one another, cleaning a wing, intent on something we cannot see, or set apart and looking toward the lone crow to the right, they suggest a narrative, rather like a dream that we can almost remember.