color woodcut, ink, paper, 22x26.5 cm, signed with the artist's seal (stamp)
The woodcut is from the work Bairei Gakan (which translates as "Reflections of Bairei Painting"), published by Yamada Shinzaburo of Unsodo in 1913. It is a series of seven volumes of woodcuts that showcase the artist's skill in reproducing nature. These beautiful, often minimalist designs include landscapes, flowers, animals and insects, and even some scholars and warriors. Freely drawn with flowing, calligraphic lines, they are filled with delicate colors of lavender ink.
Kōno Bairei (1844-1895) was born Yasuda Bairei and lived in Kyoto. He was a member of the Maruyama-Shijo school and a master of kacho-go painting (depictions of birds and flowers) during the Meiji period in Japan. In 1852, he began studying with the painter of the Maruyama school, Nakajima Raisho (1796-1871). After Raisho's death, Bairei studied with the master of the Shijo school, Shiokawa Bunrin (1808-77). He opened an art school in 1880, and his students included Takeuchi Seihō, Kawai Gyokudō and Uemura Shōen. His works included prints of flowers, birds and landscapes with a touch of Western realism. His most famous work is Bairei hyakuchō gafu (Album of Bairei with Paintings of a Hundred Birds) published between 1881 and 1884. In 1893, Bairei's artistic and commercial success was honored by his appointment to the Art Committee of the Imperial Court.
