a fishing boat in a storm

This drawing depicts two fishermen in a small boat, a sampan, braving rough waves. The motif of fishermen and the sea is very common in Japanese art and is reminiscent of the style of Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849). This theme often symbolises the relationship between man and nature, work and survival, and the power of nature in the face of human fragility. The sampan, a small Asian fishing boat, is a symbol of simplicity and traditional life. The composition highlights the fishermen’s determined action in the face of the powerful waves, creating a visual and symbolic contrast between the small boat and the vast sea.

The scene is simplified, yet highly dynamic. The artist used Chinese ink and diluted pigments (probably red ink or a light-coloured pigment). The technique is wash painting (sumi-e or suiboku-ga), in which ink is diluted to create gradients and textural effects. The brushstrokes are swift and confident, capturing the movement of the waves and the fishermen’s exertion, evoking a sketch or a rough drawing.

The style of the work is influenced by Japanese woodblock prints (ukiyo-e) and by the painting of the Rimpa school or other Japanese schools of the Edo period (1603–1868). The pared-back composition, the use of colour and the subjects drawn from everyday life are hallmarks of these periods. The small size of the work suggests that it may be a preparatory sketch, a sketchbook (shōga) or a work intended for exchange between artists.

The work is signed with a red seal, and the character within the seal is ‘魚’ (yú). In Chinese, ‘yú’ means ‘fish’. This is the artist’s pen name, as it is common for Asian artists to use pseudonyms based on symbols from nature, animals or plants. This seal is similar to Hokusai’s apocryphal seal: ‘Iitsu’