華鳥画譜|Picture Album of Birds and Flowers (Kachō gafu) 華鳥画譜
1903, eleven month (Meiji 36)
Medium
Woodblock printed book; ink and color on paper
Dimensions
9 13/16 × 6 3/4 in. (25 × 17.2 cm)
Classification
Illustrated Books
Culture & Period
Japan · Meiji period (1868–1912)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Mary and James G. Wallach Foundation Gift, 2013
Accession Number
2013.800
Tags
Art Historical Context
**Picture Album of Birds and Flowers (Kachōu)** by Watanabe Seitei captures the delicate beauty of nature in a woodblock-printed book from 1903 (Meiji 36, eleventh month Measuring a compact 9 13/16 × 6 3/4 inches, this ink and color on paper album exemplifies Japan's Meiji period (1868–1912), a time of rapid modernization when artists like Seitei (1851–1918) traditional ukiyo-e techniques with realism. Seitei, a master of *kachō-e* (birds-and-flowers painting), produced vivid, lifelike depictions that elevated everyday motifs into poetic celebrations of the natural world. The woodblock printi...
About the Artist
Watanabe Seitei 渡辺省亭 (Japanese) · 1851 –1918
Japanese, 1851–1918