Smoke of a Ship and Sunset 

Fujishima Takeji's "Smoke of a Ship and Sunset" captures a seascape with pastel strokes, dominated by the sky's turbulent cloud formations. Swirls of yellow hint at the sun's obscured presence, set against a melancholic palette of blues, browns, and greens. The sky, a focal point, traditionally symbolizes change and transition. We see echoes of this motif throughout art history. Consider the roiling skies in Romantic landscapes by Caspar David Friedrich, which, like these, evoke a sense of the sublime – a mixture of awe and dread when contemplating nature's power. Smoke, often linked to industry and modernity, also brings to mind transience and loss. Symbolically, smoke in art dates back to sacrificial offerings in classical antiquity. It connects earth to the heavens, yet its very nature is ephemeral. These motifs engage us on a deeply subconscious level, stirring feelings of both hope and sorrow as we contemplate the cyclical nature of existence. They serve as powerful reminders that what looms in the sky has always been there, morphing and evolving.