Japanese Art Response at the Metropolitan Museum

Japanese Art Response

At the Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibit on Japanese artwork entitled "Birds in the Art of Japan," there are many beautiful works of art which encompass all manner of subjects prevalent in Japanese history. The exhibit's intention is to show Japanese history as it is expressed through art. Each has a unique beauty all its own, but one that is extremely interesting is entitled "Gamecocks" by Katsushika Hokusai who lived in Tokyo, Japan between 1760 and 1849. The work is dated 1838, indicating that the artist was quite old when he made this beautiful piece. It is made with what are considered traditional Japanese materials. Although classified as a painting, "Gamecocks" was made with ink and paint color and painted on a scroll made of silk. "Gamecocks" looks simple at first glance, but by looking at it and analyzing it more intricately shows that despite its simplicity, the work is actually a very powerful and beautiful piece.

When looking at "Gamecocks," the first things that catch the eye are the two large birds which make up the majority of the painting. They appear to be the same breed of chicken and are obviously both male and are similarly colored but that is where their similarities end. The rooster on the left has an expression which seems to be looking out from the screen. He only has one eye showing, but rather than looking at his opponent chicken, his attention seems to be on the person looking at the painting. The right chicken on the other hand has body language and a facial expression which shows that he is only interested in the other rooster. Unlike the left rooster, the one on the right has his eye focused on his opponent and also has his mouth open. This makes him appear more aggressive, as though he were about to use his beak to strike at the other rooster. By having the mouth of the left rooster closed, the painter shows that only one of these roosters is prepared to do battle with the other. The body language of the two roosters adds to this appearance. The left chicken has his body bent some with his head down lower than the rest of his body. Even though the right rooster is also bent over, he has his head more lifted off the ground. The tail is particularly extended, straight up from the rest of the rooster's body as though it were a weapon, such as a knight picking up a sword when he prepares to attack. Notice that in addition to these things, he also has his wings extended slightly, as if he is about to rear up against the other rooster. His body language shows him to be much more powerful than the enemy. The difference in temperament is further explained through the color choices of the artist in the roosters' feathers. The right hand chicken has more color variation in his feathers. He seems to be mostly brown, but he also has stripes and spots of black, white, and grey. The left rooster, on the other hand has some color variation, but far less than the rooster on the right. It is obvious that the right rooster is about to win in an impending fight between the two male chickens.

The only thing other than the chickens in the painting is a bit of greenery behind the chickens. From the green leaf shapes and the thin strokes which are used, it looks like the artist was intending to create some bushes or tall grass. Some thin lines also hand down from an unknown distance above where the scroll begins. This is meant to represent a tree perhaps or an overly large bush. Based on their body language and their positioning, it is clear that the roosters are supposed to be very close to the ground. They are against a brown background which might be a mountain or hill or perhaps the wall of a house. The greenery, despite the fact that it hangs above the rooster's heads, cannot be very large because roosters are not very large. Two creatures take up the majority of the silk scroll, but then the viewer needs to remember scale. Large they are, but only in comparison to what else is painted on the scroll. Compared to human beings, roosters are small.