Monkeys by a Stream

Download1887 × 3267 px View on a wall Edit

Artist: Nagasawa Rosetsu (Japanese, 1754–1799)
Medium: Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
Size: Overall: 164.4 x 95.4 cm (64 3/4 x 37 9/16 in.)
Culture: Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
Museum: Cleveland Museum of Art
Rights: CC0 — no rights reserved

The two monkeys in this painting are Japanese macaques. The one in front dangles its left leg over a sharply angled rock, surveying the land beyond a fast-moving mountain stream. A smaller monkey sits behind it, looking directly ahead as if it realizes it is being watched. The artist used just a few highly contrasting warm and cool colors, sweeping brushstrokes over ink washes, and loose lines to create a scene that powerfully evokes the mentally engaged state of the two animals.