Cranes in Flight over Pines
Sold – no longer available
This piece was a handmade one-of-a-kind work. It cannot be reordered and will never exist in this form again. The page stays online as part of our archive.
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Details about the sold piece
- Height 103 cm
- Width 33 cm
- Item Type Kakemono
- Material Honshi Silk
- Technique Hand-Painted
- Unique Work Yes
No longer available
Description
The crane has long been regarded in Japan as a symbol of good fortune, fidelity, and longevity, and it is precisely this meaning that resonates in this hanging scroll, on which a group of five cranes crosses the sky in a staggered formation.
Painted in delicate gray and black tones on silk, the birds appear extraordinarily lifelike despite the reduced palette: the wings are captured in the moment of the downward beat, and the red crowns provide the only accents of color. At the lower edge of the picture, pine branches reach into the composition, another traditional symbol of steadfastness that grounds the scene.
The delicately shifting tint of the sky from cream to a soft pink evokes dawn or dusk and lends the scene a quiet, almost meditative atmosphere. In the lower right, the work bears the painter's signature and seal.