Japanese Scroll Painting, 19th Century Chinese Pheasants by Yoshizawa Setsuan

Yoshizawa Setsuan (1809-1889)

Hanging scroll, ink and color on silk.

Painting inscription: Setsuan Houyou

Upper seal: Yoshizawa

Lower seal: Ji Seryu

Dimensions:

Scroll 175 cm x 96 cm (69” x 38”)

Image 81 cm x 85 cm (32” x 33.5”)

A mid-19th century Japanese scroll painting depicting a pair of Chinese pheasants in a setting of blooming flowers. Presented as if the viewer were looking out a round window, the artist has created an intricate natural universe within the limited space of the painting surface. A richly colored work in saturated pigments, the composition is constructed of a number of complicated elements. The colors are used with exquisite taste, and to great decorative effect. The meticulous brushwork and the vocabulary of the birds and flowers has been passed down through the Buncho School of painting, and is an eclectic blend of the Chinese Nanpin school with Southern and Northern Song influences.

Yoshizawa Setsuan (1809-1889) was known as a talented painter in the bird-and-flower genre. He studied under Tosaka Bunyo (1783-1852), who was in turn a pupil of Tani Buncho (1763-1840).