Jonge eenden 1937

Takeuchi Seihô painted these young ducks with ink and color on silk. You can really see his process in this work - the laid-back but energetic brushstrokes, the way the birds are kind of just *there* on the paper. The paint has this great, bleedy quality, not controlled in a tight way, but allowed to do its thing. Look at the subtle variations in the white of the ducks’ feathers, how it almost disappears into the background, but then pops out again. And the feet! Those little orange feet. The artist has allowed the paint to collect and pool, creating a sense of depth and form. They're like punctuation marks in this soft and gentle scene. It reminds me a little bit of Morandi's still-lives, the way he was interested in humble, everyday subjects, and the beauty that can be found in simplicity and repetition. It makes you wonder about all the other approaches that could have been taken.