Ōkyo Picture Album 1850

This image of a bird perched on a branch, part of an album by Maruyama Ōkyo, was made in Japan sometime in the late 18th century. Ōkyo was instrumental in merging Japanese and Western painting traditions. His naturalistic style became incredibly popular. But what can this image tell us about the social structures of its time? In feudal Japan, artistic patronage was closely tied to social class and political power. Ōkyo gained prominence through his association with wealthy merchants and members of the imperial court in Kyoto. The naturalistic style he pioneered reflected changing cultural values, turning away from traditional art towards a more direct observation of the world, a shift connected to the growth of urban centers and a merchant class with new tastes. As historians, we might look to records of patronage, aesthetic debates of the time, and the biographies of artists and their patrons to understand better the changing social role of art in 18th-century Japan.