Kite and two crows

A pair of crows huddle against a downpour of rain, suggested by diagonal bands of ink wash and downturned leaves. Farther up on the same branch, a kite (a type of bird of prey) appears unperturbed by the stormy weather. The pairing of a kite and crows appears with some frequency in paintings by Yosa Buson, as it does in a type of poetry known as haikai (the poetic form from which modern-day haiku evolved). Buson was a master of both mediums, and it is possible that the subject of his painting was drawn from a poem.

About the painting

Particulars

In the same room · G221, Minneapolis Institute of Art

Yes, receiving visitors

In the catalog

Sources

Crows in an Old Tree

Moon Viewing, from The Tale of Heike

Snow Landscape

Farmer Returning Home in Autumn

Sea in Spring

Evening Landscape with Traveler

Three Laughers of Tiger Ravine

Landscape with a Solitary Hut

Crows in an Old Tree, 18th century

Rider [center of a triptych of Three Scenes of Autumn Evening], late 17th century

Landscape [left of a triptych of Three Scenes of Autumn Evening], late 17th century

Landscape [right of a triptych of Three Scenes of Autumn Evening], late 17th century

Votive plaque with painting of a sacred horse, 1695

Crows and Cryptomeria, late 16th century

Owl and Crested Mynas on a Plum Branch, 16th century