Most amazing are the wild swans taking off from swampy marshes in The Snow Country(1990). Evoking magnificent Rimpa masters Sutatsu (宗達) and Kurin (光琳), whose wild geese in gold and silver had served as foil for breathtaking poetic inscriptions in jet-black ink, Wildsmith is not copying those images. A large number of white swans, heading toward reddening skies, fly in typical Wildsmith perspective, diminishing in size from the largest leader close to us, to those less than a fraction of its size in the distance, even as other smaller birds, and children, watch their departure from rushes and shore in rapt awe.
Exhibition notes:
What: Fantasia: Brian Wildsmith and His World of Illustrations and Picture Books.
When: Until Aug. 15.
Where: Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Galleries 303 to 304, at 804, Meishuguan Road (高雄市鼓山區美術館路80號).
RSS