Kano Naganobu
Insects among Grasses

Hanging scroll
Color on silk
96,3cm×37,5cm(179cm×49cm)

Condition

This exceptional work is breathtaking in the beauty of its delicate brushwork and exquisite coloration. A profusion of vividly colored flowers blooms across the composition, while butterflies drift gently among the blossoms. At first glance, the scene evokes the appearance of a beautiful garden unfolding before the viewer. Yet the image possesses a quality that transcends mere realism; throughout the painting one senses the artist’s profound concern for pictorial beauty itself.

In the right-hand panel, poppies rise gracefully upward. A large expanse of negative space occupies the area to the left of an implied diagonal running from the upper right to the lower left. The composition is carefully balanced by the placement of poppy blossoms, a grasshopper, and a large butterfly along this diagonal axis. By contrast, the left-hand panel is animated by hollyhocks in white, red, and other colors, which spread in a circular rhythm from the lower left toward the upper right, filling the picture with vibrant energy and vitality. While both panels depict flowers of summer and share a harmonious palette of red, white, and pink, as well as similarly generous areas of open space in their upper portions, their contrasting compositional structures create a pleasing visual variety.

Viewed up close, the extraordinary subtlety of the brushwork becomes immediately captivating. In some areas the flowers are rendered without contour lines, while elsewhere the artist employs exceptionally fine brushstrokes to convey the delicacy, curvature, and softly rounded texture of the petals. Delicate gradations of color further enhance the flowers’ sense of volume and dimensionality. Such refined technique recalls Kano Naganobu masterpiece of observational drawing, Handscroll of Studies of Flowers and Plants (Tokyo University of the Arts). The fresh and lifelike quality of the floral depiction undoubtedly reflects Naganobu close study of nature.

At the same time, the combination of Taihu rocks, insects, and butterflies, as well as their manner of representation, reveals the influence of Chinese bird-and-insect painting traditions. Naganobu was closely associated with the renowned Flowers and Plants painting formerly preserved by the Asano family of Geishū (present-day Hiroshima), a daimyo family celebrated for its collection of Chinese masterpieces and now in the collection of the Tokyo National Museum. Naganobu even authored an appraisal of this work. It is likely that he learned from such classical masterpieces the principles of elegant composition, harmonious color balance, and the effective use of insects and butterflies to enhance the beauty of flowers.

Although the details are rendered with a freshness rooted in direct observation, the painting achieves a beauty that surpasses simple botanical study. This distinction lies in Naganobu sophisticated manipulation of composition and color. Such pictorial refinements were likely informed by his study of works such as the Asano family’s Flowers and Plants. One of the painting’s greatest achievements is that it appears strikingly true to nature when viewed at close range, yet from a distance transforms into an idealized pictorial world. The remarkable balance between observation and idealization is among the work’s most compelling qualities.

The artist, Kano Naganobu , emerged as one of the leading figures of a generation that transformed the Kano school. He produced numerous paintings of flowers, plants, and birds, and one can easily imagine the feudal lords of his day eagerly seeking such works. Among the surviving examples, this painting is exceptionally rare, offering valuable insight into the ambitions of the young Naganobu , who was deeply interested in observation from life and in synthesizing such naturalistic approaches with the expressive traditions of classical painting.

The work was once owned by Koizumi Sakutarō, a politician and businessman from Shizuoka with a deep appreciation for painting and calligraphy. Carefully preserved over generations, this masterpiece by Naganobu continues to enchant contemporary viewers with its refined brilliance and inexhaustible charm.

Artist

1775～1828
He was a Kano school painter. He studied painting under his father. Eishin participated in the creation of the screen painting of Edo castle. He was conferred Hogen (法眼: the rank among the Buddhist monks) in 1802. He succeeded the head of family in 1806. He specialized in ectype and studied ancient Chinese and Japanese painting.