"Amid this seemingly unnatural quality of Mountain Landscape with a Waterfall, however, it is also evident that Taiga was attempting to paint with a unique and emotive style. Several different types of brushwork are visible in the paintings, for example, which help to create a more expressive style. Taiga was famous for painting with varied brushwork and for experimenting with innovative methods of painting. He was often known to paint with rolled up brushes, rolled up paper, and even with his fingernails. By varying his brushwork, Taiga was able to imbue a personal identity and style into his artwork. Specifically, in Mountain Landscape with a Waterfall, the exuberance of Taiga’s brushwork instills a sense of joy and emotion – an emotive quality that is uniquely associated with Taiga as the artist of the painting.
"It is undeniable that Taiga based Mountain Landscape with a Waterfall on previous Chinese artworks, but it is also clear that he imbued his own artistic style into the landscape, rather than merely copying and mimicking Chinese traditions that he observed in woodblocks and manuals."
"Taiga’s unique artistic innovation and expressiveness is particularly evident in Mountain Landscape with a Waterfall, where he uses a gold, reflective background and bold brushstrokes. Through this reflective background and bold brushwork, Taiga was able to emphasize the surface of the painting to make it appear more expressive and monumental. This emphasis on surface makes the mountain appear larger-than-life and awe-inspiring – emotions that Taiga may have experienced upon actually visiting the mountain. The viewer, therefore, is able to share this emotional experience with Taiga and understand the grandeur of the landscape (even though they may not have ever been able to view the landscape themselves). Taiga creates an emotional experience, or a journey, for his viewers – a journey that makes Mountain Landscape with a Waterfall at once intensely expressive and also personally meaningful."
Kaplan, Emily. “A Mountain Landscape with a Waterfall.” Japanese Landscapes, 18 Dec. 2009, japaneselandscape.wordpress.com/literati/literati-prints/a-mountain-landscape-with-a-waterfall/.
Landscapes and flower studies
Studied under Ikeno Taiga, whom she married in 1746. One of the best women painters of the nanga school, known for her small-scale paintings in the manner of her husband. Her style is soft, mild, graceful, utterly charming.
Roberts, Laurance Page, and John M. Rosenfield. A Dictionary of Japanese Artists: Painting, Sculpture, Ceramics, Prints, Lacquer. Weatherhill, 2000.
