Rooster in Rain.

New York:, undated [1902].. Fine. Fine condition. Original Charcoal, and ink on paper. Image: 7 1/2 x 12 5/8 inches. Sheet: 10 x 15 1/2 inches. Elegantly custom framed in Ecru rag board with gilt decoration, one inch neoclassical silver moulding . Dimensions: 19 5/8 x 25 5/8 inches.Executed with charcoal and ink on paper- Charles Livingston Bull's preferred medium- an animated scene of a glaring Rooster under splashing water spout amidst plummeting raindrops. The supreme American Naturalist artist Charles Livingston Bull (1874- 1932) was intrigued by the pathos and elegance found in the tradition of Japanese wood block prints; qualities which are here expressed by the animated nature of the scene. Any decorative elements in the design give way to a heightened level of sensual expression and refinement. In his excellent essay for the Glenbow Museum Peter White states: With Bull's evident stylistic debt to art of Japan, it is tempting to link him as well with the spirit of Kacho-ga, Japanese nature art. In Kacho-ga, nature is not thought of as an objective reality but as a subjective reflection of the artist's own mind. The thing depicted is less important in itself than it is as a means through which the artist gives vent to his emotions.