Yosa Buson (1716–1784), Crows in an Old Tree, 18th century. Hanging scroll, ink on paper, 108.27 × 41.28 cm (image): 188.44 × 54.93 cm (mount, without roller). Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015.79.128. © Minneapolis Institute of Art

Seven raucous crows flit in and around an old tree at dusk, a scene all too common in autumn and winter. In Japanese poetry and painting, crows have long served as signs of the arrival of winter (the autumn season is suggested in this painting by the pink highlights on the tree’s leaves), and, by extension, death. One old folk belief is that a crow’s call may signal the death of someone nearby. Another says that a crow’s call at night is an omen of a fire. This can make them a somewhat gloomy motif, as in the famous haiku by Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694), who, like Yosa Buson himself, was a widely celebrated poet: “Crows resting / on a withered branch— / evening in autumn.” Here, though, Buson’s loose, energetic brushwork lends the scene a sense of liveliness.