Crow and Heron

Executed in plain black ink on paper, this painting in vertical hanging scroll format depicts a white heron and black crow perched atop the broken trunk of a tree. The heron faces the viewer and stands hunched forward with its left leg raised. His body mostly obscured by the heron, the crow stands in profile behind his companion, facing the viewer’s right, his heavy lid and furrowed brow lending it an air of slight menace. The tree trunk was painted perfunctorily with a dry brush; only sparse bits of leaves and short branches appear on the trunk’s lower portion. A signature and red intaglio seal appear at the right edge of the composition.