Monkey on a Withered Tree: Hasegawa Tohaku's Monkeys

Important Cultural Property, by Hasegawa Tohaku, Momoyama period (16th century)
Ink on paper, 2 hanging scrolls (each 155.0 cm high × 115.0 cm wide), Ryusen-an, Kyoto
(Click here for image 👉 Kyoto National Museum Official Website )

When you hear the name Hasegawa Tohaku, many of you probably think of that famous Pine Trees Screen, right?
But actually, Tohaku also painted animals.
The work I'm introducing this time is titled Monkey on a Withered Tree—
it's a sophisticated piece depicting a family of monkeys hanging from a withered tree, all rendered solely in ink.

Hasegawa Tohaku (1539–1610), who painted this, was originally from Nanao in Ishikawa Prefecture.
After moving to Kyoto, he received support from Honpo-ji, a Nichiren sect temple, was favored by Sen no Rikyu, and frequented Daitoku-ji Temple.
During the Momoyama period, when the Kano school was at the height of its power, Tohaku made a name for himself by breaking into that scene.

The "Monkey on a Withered Tree" painted by Tohaku is now in the form of two hanging scrolls, but it was originally a set of six folding screen panels.
Currently, only four of those panels remain, and they have been remounted as hanging scrolls.
Incidentally, there are records indicating that it was once in the collection of the Maeda family of Kaga.

The subjects are a parent and child monkey, along with another monkey.
The parent and child huddle together on a withered tree, while another monkey hangs from the branch—it's almost like a story.
Since Tohaku frequented Daitoku-ji, he may have actually seen the Monkey by Muqi preserved there.
You can clearly feel the influence of that work in this piece.

As for the brushwork, the texture of the monkeys' fur and the tree branches are expressed solely through the varying shades of ink.
The strength of the withered tree and the suppleness of the monkeys—it makes you deeply appreciate how richly one can paint using only ink.