Artwork
Oxen and Herdboy
Oxen and Herdboy is an unspecified painting by the Maruyama Shijo artist Takahashi Sōhei. It dates from 1832 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
Created in 1832 by the Japanese artist Sōhei, this painting presents a straightforward rural scene featuring a young boy and a buffalo.
Created in 1832 by the Japanese artist Sōhei, this painting presents a straightforward rural scene featuring a young boy and a buffalo. The work's iconography centers on the interaction between the herdboy and the large animal, likely an ox or water buffalo, which serves as the primary subject alongside the human figure. While specific symbolic interpretations regarding the relationship between the boy and the beast are not detailed in the available records, the depiction aligns with traditional themes of pastoral life and agricultural labor found in Japanese art of the period. The composition focuses entirely on these two figures, emphasizing their coexistence within a natural setting.
Technique & Style
Executed in 1832 by Takahashi Sōhei, Oxen and Herdboy is a polychrome woodblock print on paper. The composition employs flat color fields and delicate contour lines characteristic of the ukiyo‑e tradition, with minimal shading to model the figures and oxen. The herdboy and two oxen are arranged in a shallow foreground plane, their forms defined by crisp outlines and subtle gradations of mineral‑based pigments. The handling emphasizes linearity over optical modeling, aligning with early‑nineteenth‑century Edo‑period conventions for genre scenes.
History & Provenance
Oxen and Herdboy is dated 1832 and attributed to the Japanese painter Takahashi Sōhei.
The painting entered the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it is currently held. According to institutional records, the work has been part of the museum’s holdings since its acquisition, with no intervening owners documented in available sources.
Overview
This painting, titled Oxen and Herdboy, was created by the artist Sōhei in 1832. It depicts a pastoral scene featuring a young boy atop a wild ox, accompanied by another ox, set against a tranquil landscape. The work is part of the collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, offering a glimpse into early 19th-century Japanese artistic representations of rural life.
Artist & collection
Untitled
Spring Cleaning
Landscape
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Emperor Enyū’s Outing to Funaokayama on the First Day of the Rat in the New Year
Ducks in the Winter Moonlight
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