A sweetfish (“ayu”) is one of the summer features in Japan, suggests a fresh, cooling feeling to us. There are some sweetfish swimming in schools in this painting. The depiction of a gently flowing stream makes us feel their lively movement.

Taikyou Ooya, whose speciality is “Kachō-ga” (paintings of flowers and birds), is a veteran Japanese-style painter. He depicts the characteristics of the sweetfish correctly: a black dorsal fin, a big yellow spot at the back of the pectoral fin and a wide mouth extending from eye to eye. The green maple leaves also make us feel the atmosphere of summer. We can refresh ourselves in the summertime with a work like this.