Two Crows in Snow

Two Crows in Snow

This landscape orientated print features two crows. One crow occupies the foreground within the right half of the composition, while the latter is shown in profile, facing to the left. Its head is looking down and it's right foot and leg are seen but the foot is retracted. Its left leg is seen and seems to be supporting it but its left foot is not visible. The visual implication is that the crow is standing in snow and that is what is obscuring its foot. The other crow is seen from the front, breast toward the viewer and head turned to the right. Its feet are also missing from the image. The color used to depict the foremost crow is mostly a dark black, with a gradient of gray to black used to depict portions of its wing, tail feathers, and beak. Its eye is a flat grey with a black pupil. The artist has also used black to outline details within the birds’ feathers, specifically its wings. The crow in the background is depicted in a similar manner, but the black and the areas of black to grey gradient used to depict it are lighter in shade. The rest of the composition outside of the crows is minimalist in nature, depicted through the use of negative space and/or subtle coloration, allowing for the pale paper the work is printed on to be seen by the viewer to a great degree. Many very pale gray, curved, overlapping lines are seen in the area below the crows, used to indicate the birds’ foot imprints in the snow. Somewhat darker grey tapered marks appear behind the crows, on the right side of the composition, seeming to imply some sort of organic matter. A sky is also suggested, beginning at about ¼ up from the bottom of the composition, though obscured by the crows and the aforementioned organic matter. The coloration of the sky gradiates vertically, beginning with an aquamarine blue which then fades fairly quickly into a very pale gray that extends to the top of the composition. This area of gray in the sky is a little darker in shade in parts of the right side of the composition, and serves to define the shape of the organic matter there. On the left side of the composition several gently curving, lines and shapes are seen where the horizon meets the ground. The effect is that of grasses bent under the snow. The artist chops are to the right edge of the piece.

Ito Sozan is a Japanese artist born in 1884. Not much is know about the artist’s life, other than he worked for the publisher Watanabe from 1919 to 1926. He designed twenty-eight kacho-e, or bird and flower prints during his career at there. After 1926, he was replaced by Ohara Shoson. The rest of his career and life remains unknown.

https://cdm16120.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/fineart/id/764/rec/1

St. Catherines University Library and Archives

1920

St. Catherine University

This image may not be reproduced for any reason without the express written consent of the St. Catherine University. Contact the Visual Resources Library regarding rights to this collection. 651-690-6639

6 3/4 x 15 in

English

Woodblock Print

2013.0.1141