c. 1794

Woodcutter

Japanese, 1754 - 1799

Nagasawa Rosetsu took full advantage of the explosion of artistic styles in Japan during the eighteenth century. He traveled widely and spent much of 1794 in Hiroshima, where he may have painted this scroll, one of a pair. His use of expensive materials to produce color---malachite for green and gofun for white---the silk support, and the large scale of the scroll indicates that the pair were a commission from a wealthy patron. The compositions give ample evidence of Rosetsu's mature and confident brushwork.