Birds and flowers [left of a pair of Birds and Flowers] by Nagasawa Roshū

Birds and flowers [left of a pair of Birds and Flowers] c. 1840

color-on-silk, hanging-scroll, ink

abstract painting

water colours

color-on-silk

japan

handmade artwork painting

oil painting

hanging-scroll

ink

fluid art

coffee painting

watercolour bleed

watercolour illustration

botanical art

watercolor

This hanging scroll, titled "Birds and Flowers," was created by Japanese artist Nagasawa Roshū in the early 19th century. The work is a quintessential example of the *kachō-ga* genre, a Japanese painting style that emphasizes depictions of birds and flowers. The delicate brushstrokes and vibrant colors capture the natural beauty of the scene, showcasing Roshū's masterful skill in depicting delicate details. The inclusion of birds perched on flowering branches is a recurring theme in *kachō-ga* paintings, symbolizing the fleeting nature of beauty and the transience of life.

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minneapolisinstituteofart about 1 year ago

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Artists of the Maruyama School of painting combined Western realism with the indigenous penchant for decorative design to produce works of great naturalism and pleasing visual effect. Nagasawa Roshū, pupil of the progenitor of the school and adopted son of one of its leading masters, was himself a master of this style. This set of paintings is an impressive example of his work and reveals both Roshū's debt to his teacher, Maruyama Ōkyo (1733–1795), and to his adoptive father, Nagasawa Rosetsu (1754–1799). The refined, precise approach clearly suggests Roshū's fidelity to Ōkyo's fastidious style, while other elements reveal the unorthodox approach of Rosetsu, who was fond of juxtaposing subjects of vastly different scale.