The traditional Japanese landscape evokes both strength and elegance, the resolute and the graceful. These dueling feelings were omnipresent throughout my time at the Smithsonian’s new exhibition “Bountiful Waters,” exploring aquatic life in traditional Japanese art.
Though there is a wide assortment of fish in Japanese waters year-round, such as ayu (sweetfish), tai (seabream), and madai (red seabream), the two most important fish in Japanese culture that made their way into the exhibition are the Ascending Eels, unagi-nobori, and the carp fish, or koi.
The unagi-nobori, depicted with few, yet powerful brushstrokes in Kimura Buzan’s early 20th century painting, appears to be climbing towards the top of the canvas. The eel is outlined in gold ink, and the surrounding maple trees and grass in the background enhance the eel as a magnificent creature.
Considered the “king of the river”, koi are a powerful, colorful species of carp that can grow to over three feet long. According to legend, the koi swim upriver until they transform into powerful dragons. Koi have been classically depicted conquering the heights of a titanic waterfall. Ohara Kusan’s rendition is full of detail and color, the light blue waves of water rushing past the fish as the creature leaps up once more, rising towards the challenge of the water.
Aquatic life extends beyond the organic to the genre painting. Ranging from 12th century ink blots to 18th century ink on canvas, “Bountiful Waters” explores fishing throughout Japanese history. The brushstrokes of Katsushika Hokusai’s mid 19th century’s “Boy fishing from the limb of a tree” are astonishingly minimal for all that they depict, yet far more intricate than those of most of the other pieces displayed. Uehara Konen’s “Blue Wave” was majestic and imposing, depicting a gargantuan wave crashing onto a stormy sea. Its emotional poignancy is, like many of “Bountiful Waters’” other pieces, masterful. A 12th century sketch of lobster, shrimp, and crabs is extremely similar in style and detail to one of Utagawa Hiroshige’s “Large Fish” prints from the 1830s and 1840s. Despite more than five hundred years separating the two, they both perfectly present the enigmatic pathos unique to traditional Japanese art.
Freer Gallery
1050 Independence Ave SW
Every day, 10 a.m. – 5:30p.m.
www.asia.si.edu
