Scorpion

Object Details

• Artist

  Kubo Takuji 久保卓治 (Japan, born 1948)

• Edition/State

  Epreuve d'Artiste

• Label

  The works of Takuji Kubo (born 1948) reflect a strain in Japanese graphic art influenced by a long-standing Japanese interest in natural history illustration, the European traditions of copperplate etching and, in particular, Northern Renaissance manifestations of engraving techniques and themes.

  Scorpion is a finely detailed etching showing a scorpion oriented to the upper right of the picture plane and a fragmented rodent's skull at the lower left of the plane. This technically exquisite impression seems dramatically composed to suggest the death left in the wake of the venomous arachnid. Many other of Kubo's nature studies show dead speicmens. All seem to refer to the brute, silent, and egalitarian qualities of death. This method of treatment recalls Durer's blending of religious memento mori themes with observations of natural cycles.

• Collection

  National Museum of Asian Art Collection

• Origin

  Japan

• Credit Line

  Gift of the artist

• Type

  Print

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1980s

• Name

  Kubo, Takuji

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Contemporary Art, Art, Showa era (1926 - 1989), Scorpion, Japanese Art, Engraving (printing process)

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Prints