“Willow with White-headed Bulbul and Peach with Golden Dove”

Sō Shiseki

Click the image to enlarge.

Artist Name: Sō Shiseki
Title: “Willow with White-headed Bulbul and Peach with Golden Dove”
Dimensions: painting：（right side）：124.0×46.0cm（left side）：123.8×46.0cm
full length：（right side）：214.5×61.9cm（left side）：214.5×61.7cm
Medium: ink with colors on silk
Year: circa 1770–1775
Description: Sō Shiseki (1715–1786) was born in Edo and was a painter during the mid-Edo period. Details of his early life are unclear. In his mid-40s, he traveled to Nagasaki, where he studied the painting techniques of Shin Nanpin under his mentor Kumashiro Yuhi. He later became a disciple of the Chinese painter Sō Shigan, who had come to Japan. Taking his teacher's name, he adopted the name Sō Shiseki in the Chinese style. He was known for his realistic bird-and-flower paintings and, alongside Kakutei, became one of the leading painters of the Nanpin school.