Artwork
軍鶏図|Gamecocks
軍鶏図|Gamecocks is an ink painting by the Japonisme artist Katsushika Hokusai. It dates from 1838 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The artwork depicts a rooster, specifically identified as a gamecock, rendered in ink and color on silk. This subject matter aligns with the title Gamecocks, highlighting the bird as the central figure of the composition. Created by Katsushika Hokusai in 1838, the piece focuses entirely on the avian subject within a traditional hanging-scroll format.
Technique & Style
Created in 1838, the work is executed as a hanging scroll featuring ink and color applied to a silk support. Hokusai utilizes traditional Japanese painting materials to depict a gamecock with the fluid brushwork characteristic of his animal studies from the late Edo period. The piece is part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection of Asian art.
History & Provenance
Created in 1838 by the Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai, this hanging scroll depicts a rooster rendered in ink and color on silk.
Created in 1838 by the Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai, this hanging scroll depicts a rooster rendered in ink and color on silk. The work was produced in Japan during the artist's later period and is today held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it remains part of the permanent holdings. The museum's records do not publish a specific accession number, and no exhibition history is detailed in the available sources.
Context
Katsushika Hokusai produced Gamecocks in 1838 as a hanging scroll executed in ink and color on silk. Scholars examine the piece to illustrate Hokusai's continued interest in animal subjects beyond his better-known landscape series, situating it within the broader development of painting in the late Edo period. The painting reflects his sustained engagement with natural history subjects in old age.
Legacy
The hanging scroll 軍鶏図 (Gamecocks) by Katsushika Hokusai was created in 1838 and is classified as a painting depicting a rooster. It is part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection, where it stands as an example of late-Edo period avian imagery within Hokusai's broader oeuvre.
Overview
Gamecocks, created in 1838 by Katsushika Hokusai, is a hanging scroll executed in ink and color on silk. Depicting two roosters poised for combat against a plain tan background, the work exemplifies the artist's mastery of dynamic movement and precise observation in his late period. Hokusai employs thin, rapid ink lines to delineate the birds' anatomy, contrasting these with small, bold patches of color that define the red combs and black tail feathers.
One rooster is captured with a wing half-raised, suggesting imminent action, while the composition relies on the tension between the facing figures rather than a detailed setting. Produced when the artist was nearly eighty years old, this piece reflects the vitality and technical refinement characteristic of his final decades, moving beyond the narrative scenes of his earlier ukiyo-e career to focus on the raw energy of nature. The work stands as a testament to Hokusai's enduring ability to capture the spirit of his subjects through economical yet expressive brushwork, a skill that remained sharp even as he approached the end of his long life.
Artist & collection
Artist
Katsushika Hokusai spent his life in Edo, now Tokyo, where he drew and carved prints for a living.
