Details

This elegant painting captures a flying fish suspended between sea and sky, gliding effortlessly through a field of softly flowing blue washes. Executed in mineral pigments on silk, the work combines precise natural observation with a remarkable sense of movement and atmosphere. The fish's translucent wings are rendered with extraordinary delicacy, while the surrounding currents dissolve into sweeping, fluid forms that evoke wind, water, and motion simultaneously. The restrained palette of cool blues and silvery grays creates a sense of openness and tranquility, allowing the solitary fish to emerge with striking clarity.

The composition demonstrates Ohno’s exceptional command of space and balance. Rather than filling the surface with descriptive detail, he relies on suggestion and nuance, allowing broad passages of color to convey the shifting energy of the sea. The result is a work of great lyricism and refinement, one that captures not merely the appearance of its subject but the fleeting moment of its passage through the natural world. Both scientifically observed and poetically imagined, the painting exemplifies the artist's ability to transform nature into an image of enduring elegance.

Connoisseur's Note

This painting is particularly significant for its close relationship to Ohno’s celebrated 1938 woodblock print Flying Fish from the landmark series Familiar Fishes of Japan. While the finished print presents three flying fish soaring through a dramatically stylized seascape, the present work focuses on a single specimen and appears to represent an earlier stage in the development of the design. The essential visual vocabulary of the print—the luminous body, sweeping fins, and rhythmic movement through water—is already fully realized here.

Original paintings by Ohno are considerably rarer than his woodblock prints and provide invaluable insight into his artistic process. Works such as this reveal how the artist refined ideas in paint before adapting them for the collaborative medium of woodblock printing. Seen alongside the finished print, the painting offers a fascinating record of creative evolution, documenting the transformation of an intimate study into one of the most iconic compositions of modern Japanese fish printmaking. For collectors and scholars alike, it represents both a beautiful independent work and an important link to one of Ohno’s most celebrated achievements.