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Details of this work
Master of the I-nen Seal (Studio of Tawaraya Sōtatsu)
Little is known about Sōtatsu, but he and his Tawaraya workshop in Kyoto used the red, circular ”I-nen” seal and specialized in large-scale screens of flowers and grasses, as well as fan paintings. The I-nen seal was placed on several Tawaraya works during Sōtatsu’s lifetime, an indication that they were produced either by his own hand or by his studio. The seal was used with greater frequency by the studio’s artists after Sōtatsu’s death circa 1640.
Many I-nen seal works depict flowers and plants. Japanese people had always sought artistic and literary metaphors for the complexities of human emotion in the world of nature. However, beginning in the seventeenth century, there was a marked increase of interest in botany, exotica imported from afar, scientific examination, and categorization of plant types. Personal gardens varied greatly in style, engaging both the heart and the intellect. People often gave seedlings, plants, and cut flowers as gifts. The Tawaraya studio and the artists who used the I-nen seal gained commissions that reflected this newly intense interest. In the decades after his death, Sōtatsu’s techniques and creativity became almost synonymous with images of flowering beauty.
