Kano Tangen “Boating People”

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IItem No.
Title	“Boating People”
Overall size	103.5cm×63.5cm
Artwork size	34.0cm×56.5cm
Artist	Kano Tangen (1776-1834)
Date Created	1776-1834
Price	￥650,000（excluding tax）

　People who appear to be entertainers are crossing the river in a boat.
　If you look closely at the second figure from the right wearing a hat, you will see a small monkey by his side. He appears to be a monkey maker. The man with the smoking pipe stands up and points to the other side of the river. Is he giving an instruction to pass it to the other side of the river? If you look closely at the pattern on his kimono, you will see a daikon radish. Daikon is one of the seven plants of spring. As one of the auspicious patterns, it has been popular since ancient times.
　While the figures’ expressions are drawn in soft, light black ink, the lines of the kimono are drawn in a strong and weak manner. It is clear that the artist used different brush strokes for different parts of the painting.　

　Near the riverbank, three white birds are depicted on the calm surface of the water. They are probably herons. Further on the opposite bank, a misty mountain is depicted. It is as if to indicate that this group is traveling far away.
　This work skillfully expresses both near and far views, and gives the viewer a sense of the depth of the landscape.

　Kano Tangen (1776-1834) was the seventh generation of the Shiba Atagoshita family. He was active during the Bunka-Bunsei period as an official painter for the Tokugawa shogunate.
　He excelled not only at portraits such as the one depicted in this work, but also at flower-and-bird paintings such as “Plum Dove” (Tokyo National Museum).

As an antique, it may have some scratches or blemishes. We recommend that you visit our store to check the condition.
If you wish, we will send you detailed photos of the item, so please feel free to contact us.