西園方済筆　梅に叭叭鳥図|Mynah Bird on Plum Branch

Saien Hōsai (Xiyua Fangqi)

18th century · Hanging scroll; ink on paper · Asian Art

A single mynah bird rests upon a flowering plum tree in this rapidly executed ink painting. In his subject matter, the artist has followed models set forth in Ming-dynasty Chinese painting. His brushwork is characterized by a spirited roughness and the liberal use of thick ink to create dynamic contrasts, which brings a remarkable sense of volume to both branch and bird. Xiyua Fangqi, known in Japan as Saien Hōsai, was a Qing-dynasty Chinese merchant and painter. He was 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. One story says that he once drifted ashore in what is today Chiba Prefecture, in eastern Japan, and along the way to Nagasaki he saw and painted Mount Fuji. He is said to have brought the painting back to China, where it generated much interest.

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