Snow Landscape

In this painting, the mountains and sky glow with a hidden warmth from undertones in red as birds descend into the trees around a scholar’s retreat. Yosa Buson is recognized in Japanese literary history as one of the country’s greatest poets, but he was also an accomplished, self-taught painter. His style changed over the course of his career. Initially painting with precise brushwork, he gradually developed a freer style like the one he used in this snowscape.