Rooster and Grapevine

Artists

Description

Executed in plain black ink on paper, this painting in hanging scroll format depicts a long-tailed rooster and fruiting grapevine. Seemingly stepping forward toward the viewer, with its left leg raised mid-step, the rooster turns its head to its right (viewer’s left) with beak opened, as if emitting a cry. Behind the rooster, a fruiting grapevine at the upper right of the composition, with stems and foliage rendered in washes of light gray and grapes in darker black ink, includes an arching branch that stretches leftward, mimicking the curve of the rooster’s dark tail. Two square red intaglio seal appear in the lower right corner of the painting.

Dimensions

painting proper: H. 109.1 x W. 38.4 cm (42 15/16 x 15 1/8 in.) mounting, inlcuding suspension core and roller ends: H. 200.7 x W. 57.4 cm (79 x 22 5/8 in.)

Provenance

Taku Matano, Randen, by 1916, sold; to Choku (Tadashi) Kurita (1916-?). Hughes Le Gallais, Washington DC. (until 1943), sold; to Louis V. Ledoux Collection, New York (1943-1948), by descent; to his son L. Pierre Ledoux, New York (1948-2001), by inheritance; to his widow Joan F. Ledoux, New York, (2001-2013), gift; to Harvard Art Museums, 2013. Footnotes: 1. Taku Matano (Randen, 1839–1921), director of the Imperial Museum 2. Huges Le Gallais, Ambassador of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and Minister, Washington DC, 1940-1958 3. Louis V. Ledoux (1880-1948) 4. L. Pierre Ledoux (1912-2001) 5. On long term loan to Harvard Art Museums from 1981 to 2013.