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Snails

カタツムリ図

c. 1788–89

Nagasawa Rosetsu 長澤蘆雪

(Japanese, 1754–1799)
Japan, Edo period (1615-1868)
Hanging scroll; ink, color, and metallic pigments on paper
Image: 114.3 x 40.6 cm (45 x 16 in.); Overall: 200.7 x 54 cm (79 x 21 1/4 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1998.5
Location: not on view
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Did You Know?

Rosetsu was an independent painter active in Kyoto, Japan's cultural capital, known for his visual wit and superb range of technical skills.

Description

In this work, Nagasawa Rosetsu carefully described two snails in a manner known as “earth painting” (doro-e), building up colors mixed with crushed white shells in emulation of the thick brushstrokes of oil paint seen in European painting. A silvery metallic pigment indicates the snails’ trails, glistening along an earthen wall. Notably, one trail has no snail, leaving the viewer to guess why.
Snails

Snails

c. 1788–89

Nagasawa Rosetsu

(Japanese, 1754–1799)
Japan, Edo period (1615-1868)

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