Roosters and Hens

Ito Jakuchu’s favorite painting theme was birds and flowers, especially the colorful barnyard fowl that he curiously imbued with all too human attitudes and an engagingly flamboyant wit. The artist painted both cock and hens of the native Japanese variety kept at religious shrines as a sacred animal and specially bred for its beautiful feathers. Humor was reserved for the rooster, whose strut and natural arrogance often gave way under Jakuchu’s brush to barnyard antics. Jakuchu ingeniously exploited the bird’s haughty character and elegant plumage, particularly its long, elaborate tail, for stunningly decorative effect in a highly expressive style. The lengthy feathers of the screens’ twelve roosters were painted in a fast-drying brushstroke known as “flying white,” which gives a sense of vivid movement to the birds. Jakuchu also exploited the properties of a special paper that he used to create pooled, softly gradated washes as counterpoint to his bombastic brushwork.