Hawk on pine branch

Some scholars speculate that Utanosuke is also Kano Yukinobu, the younger brother of Kano Motonobu (1476-1559) but there is no definitive evidence to date. What is clear is that his style is strongly influenced by the early-16th century Kano school, and especially Motonobu.

Other paintings attributed to Utanosuke with the same seals as the hanging scroll here are Civet, birds and flowers, a pair of six-panel screens, the right screen now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the left in the Suntory Museum, Tokyo; and Three Masters of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism Tasting Vinegar, a hanging scroll in the Tokyo National Museum.