The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 25, 2024
Snails
c. 1788–89
(Japanese, 1754–1799)
Image: 114.3 x 40.6 cm (45 x 16 in.); Overall: 200.7 x 54 cm (79 x 21 1/4 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1998.5
Location: not on view
Did You Know?
Rosetsu was an independent painter active in Kyoto, Japan's cultural capital, known for his visual wit and superb range of technical skills.Description
In this work, Nagasawa Rosetsu carefully described two snails in a manner known as “earth painting” (doro-e), building up colors mixed with crushed white shells in emulation of the thick brushstrokes of oil paint seen in European painting. A silvery metallic pigment indicates the snails’ trails, glistening along an earthen wall. Notably, one trail has no snail, leaving the viewer to guess why.- ?–1998(James J. Freeman, Kyoto, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)1998–The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Cleveland Museum of Art, “Painting by 18th-century Italian Master Gaetano Gandolfi among Works Added to CMA Collection,” March 24, 1998, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org
- Animals in Japanese Art (Japanese art rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 24-December 10, 2023).
- {{cite web|title=Snails|url=false|author=Nagasawa Rosetsu|year=c. 1788–89|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1998.5