Featured image of Peonies and Butterfly
Peonies and Butterfly, Artist: Sakai Hōitsu (1761–1828), Calligrapher: Kameda Ryorai (1778–1853), Japan, Edo period, early 19th century, hanging scroll; ink, color, and gold on silk, Gift of Mr. Yoichi Nakajima, Freer Gallery of Art, F1974.19

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Sakai Hōitsu 酒井抱一

Sakai Hōitsu (1761–1828) was born into a wealthy, influential samurai family in Edo and became a highly accomplished painter. He worked in a number of different painting styles before he discovered the work of Ogata Kōrin and became closely affiliated with Kōrin’s artistic style. Hōitsu was also an accomplished haiku poet. Haiku poetics involve fine-tuned observations of daily life in the world around us. Hōitsu embedded this sensibility of the moment—the emotional tenor of the seasonal and climactic conditions of a certain environment—into his painting and in that way innovated upon Kōrin’s Rinpa style.


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