Title: Colorful realm
Description: "A much-anticipated harbinger of spring, the cherry blossom is also  exemplary of the Japanese artistic aesthetic--a delight in simple,  natural beauty and an attentiveness to the changing seasons. This spring  will mark the centennial of Japan's gift of three thousand cherry trees  to Washington, DC, and this sumptuously illustrated catalogue is the  companion to a celebratory exhibition at the National Gallery of Art  featuring the work of Ito Jakuchu.Jakuchu (1716-1800), a wealthy wholesaler and talented painter, is,  in Japan, the most recognized artist of the premodern era. His  thirty-scroll set of bird-and-flower paintings titled Colorful Realm of Living Beings  is a renowned cultural treasure, one of the most beautiful and skilled  examples of how the natural world is depicted and symbolized in Japanese  art. Presenting gorgeous flora and fauna in meticulous detail, the  scrolls are reunited here with Jakuchu's triptych of the Buddha  Sakyamuni from the Zen monastery Shokokuji in Kyoto. This stunning  volume reproduces these masterpieces of Edo-period art and complements  them with extensive background material on their significance. Recent  conservation of the scrolls has revealed new information about the materials and techniques used by Jakuchu,  and those findings are discussed in the volume, offering a multifaceted  understanding of the artist's virtuosity and innovation as a painter.  As the first English-language examination and overseas display of Jakuchu's Colorful Realm in  its entirety, the book and exhibition will offer new audiences a chance  to encounter this landmark work-- generously lent by the Imperial  Household Agency, Tokyo. "--
Subjects: Animals in art, Birds in art, Flowers in art, Exhibitions, Art, exhibitions, Art, japanese
People: Jakuchū Itō (1716-1800)