By Watanabe Kazan
1837
Homma Museum of Art Collection
Designated Cultural Property of Sakata City
Watanabe Kazan (1793–1841) was a retainer, literati painter and Dutch Studies scholar of the Tahara domain (the eastern part of present-day Aichi Prefecture) during the late Edo period.
During his time as a clan retainer, he studied painting under the literati painters Kaneko Kinryō and Tani Bunchō. Kazan left behind numerous outstanding works, including portraits, landscapes, and flower-and-bird paintings. This fan painting depicts ants attracted by the sweet fragrance of peach pits.