Lot 231: Shokatsukan (1719-1790)

Shokatsukan (1719-1790)
Baby quails under a leaf
Signed Konan Shokatsukan sha, sealed Shokatsukan in and another seal
Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
15 7/8 x 18½in. (40.5 x 47cm.)

Shokatsukan introduced the Nanpin Chinese style to Edo. There is no record that he went to Nagasaki, but he devoted himself to the paintings of Shokatushin, who came to Nagasaki from China in 1748. According to the Unshitsu zuihitsu (Essays about artists), Shokatsukan died impoverished because he collected and restored so many classical paintings. He even painted a stone and leaf in the meticulous technique of Chinese painting.