Every Thursday, as part of my personal “enriched environment” initiative, I post a piece of art, usually from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which recently released online some 400,000 high-resolution images of its collection. I won’t name the piece or the artist, but instead invite you to study the image and write a comment about what you see or what it makes you think of. All images will have a sun (or sunlight) in them somewhere.
So study the picture, and leave your reflections below!
Two old people, but is it a setting or rising sun? The man has a not very wide rake slung over his shoulder, and is he pointing at the sun or the squiggly calligraphy? The longest line of the vertical calligraphy seems to touch bottom with the sun. The woman seems to be reclining against a tree? And wiping her face. My, they wear so many thick layers of clothes in old Japan. The sun appears hot red and peeking through t he mist. Don’t they want to cool off? Everything seems faded.
This is what I love a bout Japanese paintings: on the one hand you have plenty of attention to madcap detail, like the myriad mushroom-like objects on the t ree trunk (or is it a rock formation?). In the other hand the breaks in the clouds that reveal the sun are pure, parallel straight lines.
Oh and I agree with the other writer that the clothes are heavy, intricate, multilayered, opressive, especially for the grandmother.
I can’t figure out what the tools are in the lower left corner. One looks like a broom made with a bear’s claw. The other looks like a turtle with a silky beard coming out one end. Are the two people humans or gods or supernaturals???
I Think the woman is tired and wants to rest wipe her brow and the man is saying Look let’s go on!
I think this is sunrise because you get morning mist but usually not evening mist.