Minneapolis Institute of Art

Chinese Children Playing with an Elephant [right of a pair]

Style of Nagasawa Rosetsu

Date

late 18th–mid 19th century

Medium

Six-panel folding screen, one of a pair, ink and gold on paper

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Japanese artists, catering to the sentimental tastes of their customers, routinely depicted groups of children at play. Rosetsu brought new vitality to this stock subject by showing the youngsters doing unusual activities. Here, in the right screen, several Chinese children explore the enormous proportions of a gentle white elephant, which seems to smile, tickled by the tiny feet on its great, lumpy back. In the left screen, the youngsters participate in a game of child snatching whereby a catcher (at the extreme right) tries to grab a child who is protected by a parent, who stands at the head of the long, winding line with outstretched arms. Rosetsu's exuberant style and daring compositions surpassed the conservative images of his contemporaries. The impetuous energy with which he painted the robes of the children suggests their frantic movements. And yet, Rosetsu also carefully individualized each child, describing a variety of facial expressions and hairstyles. Asia

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