西園方済筆 梧桐下錦鶏図|Pheasant beneath Paulownia Tree
Saien Hōsai (Xiyua Fangqi)
18th century · Hanging scroll; ink on paper · Asian Art
A single pheasant stands upon an outcropping of rocks beneath a paulownia tree whose branch supports a pair of smaller fowl. In this deceptively simple composition, the artist has deployed a wide array of brush techniques. In the pheasant alone the artist has used a dry, controlled brush for the crest; a soft layer of dark, wet ovals over modulated ink wash for the breast; crisp, opaque strokes for the legs and feet; and diminutive dots over translucent sweeps of ink for the back and tail feathers. Xiyua Fangqi, known in Japan as Saien Hōsai, was a Chinese merchant and painter. He is thought to have been from either Jiangsu or Anhui Province, and to have traveled to Japan on a number of occasions beginning about the year 1772.
- Artist
- Saien Hōsai (Xiyua Fangqi)
- Date
- 18th century
- Medium
- Hanging scroll; ink on paper
- Culture
- Japan
- Department
- Asian Art
- Credit line
- The Harry G. C. Packard Collection of Asian Art, Gift of Harry G. C. Packard, and Purchase, Fletcher, Rogers, Harris Brisbane Dick, and Louis V. Bell Funds, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, and The Annenberg Fund Inc. Gift, 1975
