Bear In Snow

Today is the last day of winter. Of course if you're locked down please celebrate it at home or with DailyArt, as we want to say goodbye to winter it with this beautiful Japanese woodcut with a bear. <3

Takeuchi Seihō, a native son of Kyoto, was born during the turmoil towards the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate and the advent of the 1867 Meiji restoration. He was to become "the great Kyoto painter of his generation: prodigiously gifted, boundlessly curious, fearless, open, astute, articulate." As the "most celebrated practitioner" of the Maruyama-Shijō school of art, a realistic style of art dominant in the Edo period, he "enjoyed extraordinary fame during his lifetime..."

He received traditional training in style and technique primarily from Shijō school painter and print designer Kōno Bairei (1844–1895). His talent was evident and he gained major commissions and public recognition at a young age. His fame continued to grow and in 1900 he was commissioned by the government to travel to Europe and study Western art. In Europe he was attracted to the Romantic masters, especially Turner and Corot, and their influence can be seen in the "lively synthesis of Western and Japanese styles" he created after his return. Due to his travels in Europe, he was exposed to a number of western styles and ideas. Visiting Dresden Zoo, he was able to see a lion for the first time and painted it for one of his screens. He also painted elephants and, for today—a bear!  : ) Later in his life he returned to more traditional Japanese motifs and painted smaller animals such as cats and fish.

We present today's DailyArt thanks to the National Museum of Asian Art
<3

P.S. Would you prefer to spend the winter in Paris, in Russia, or in Japan?  :)