Rooster, Hen, and Chicks

This scene of barnyard fowl painted by Kishi Ganku offers the artist’s characteristically jaded view of an icon held in high esteem. Gaku’s interpretation is of an elongated and threatening creature. The rooster’s neck feathering, in particular, is luxuriously rendered to the point of the surreal. The most telling episode in the composition is the feeding process; a hen passes a dragonfly to a ravenous chick. The dragonfly’s eyes imply horror and this brilliant, minuscule touch conveys Ganku’s skill at suggesting the darker side of the ostentatiously regal.

This scene showcases Kishi Ganku’s characteristically jaded view of an icon otherwise held in high esteem. Ganku interprets the rooster as an elongated and threatening creature. In particular, the feathers on bird’s neck are luxuriously rendered to the point of seeming surreal. The most telling image in the composition is the hen feeding a dragonfly to a ravenous chick. The dragonfly’s eyes imply horror, a brilliant, minuscule touch that conveys Ganku’s skill at suggesting the darker side of the ostentatiously regal. A similar approach is seen in the adjacent painting, Eagle.

The signature and inscription note the date of 1788 and the painter’s stated intention to emulate the painting of Shen Napin.

The subject of the rooster in Chinese and Japanese painting has traditionally implied serious content. Chinese Zen adepts likened the rooster’s alert and attentive anticipation of the dawn to the attitude of a devoted practitioner’s eager anticipation of enlightenment; the rooster’s crow was emblematic of the moment of satori (enlightenment). The rooster also was thought to embody the Five Virtues: martial spirit, literary accomplishment, loyalty, courage and virtue. The 18th century in particular witnessed a number of Japanese painters issuing quite spectacular renderings of these creatures. Most were complex studies in color and pattern; some were presented in ink monochrome. The painter Ito Jakuchu (1716-1800) was the acknowledged master of the form.

This scene of barnyard fowl painted by Kishi Ganku offers the artist’s characteristically jaded view of an icon held in high esteem. Gaku’s interpretation is of an elongated and threatening creature. The rooster’s neck feathering, in particular, is luxuriously rendered to the point of the surreal. The most telling episode in the composition is the feeding process; a hen passes a dragonfly to a ravenous chick. The dragonfly’s eyes imply horror and this brilliant, minuscule touch conveys Ganku’s skill at suggesting the darker side of the ostentatiously regal.

Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Arts of Japan: Edo Aviary and Poetic License (February 2 to August 4, 2013)

Japanese Arts in the Edo Period: 1615-1868, part 1 (August 18, 2007 to February 24, 2008)