Infant and His Sister

At the center of the picture a girl with black hair stands in profile, carrying her little brother, in a red kimono, on her back. The girl looks down at her feet, while her brother faces front and looks out at the viewer. In front of them, grasses and flowers with red and orange blossoms fill the lower half of the picture, and beyond lie a green field and a sky of drifting clouds.

The red of the two kimonos and the green of the field and grasses collide, giving the picture a strong impression. The outlines are thick and soft, and without painting in details, the volume of the figures is expressed through layers of color. The difference between the girl's downcast expression and her brother's gaze straight ahead is also a highlight. The title, year, and Sekine's name are said to be written on the wooden stretcher of the canvas.

Sekine was born in Onuma Village, Nishishirakawa District, Fukushima Prefecture (now Shirakawa), and moved to Tokyo as a young child. He painted while working at a printing company, and at 16 was accepted to the Nika Exhibition for the first time. This work was shown at the fifth Nika Exhibition in 1918. At the same exhibition, works such as "Sorrow of Faith" (Ohara Museum of Art, Important Cultural Property) received the Chogyu Prize.

The following year, 1919, Sekine died at the age of 20. The Fukushima Prefectural Museum of Art holds Sekine's works as a group, and this work is the central piece among them.