Kyoto, 1864 -1942 · Modern Nihonga and animal observation

From the lion seen in Europe to the tabby cat seized in a moment of tension, Seihô renews the nihonga through an observation capable of retaining weight, hair and character.

Takeuchi Seihô was born in Kyoto in 1864 and died in 1942. Trained with Kôno Bairei in the Maruyama-Shijô tradition, he became one of the major figures of modern nihonga and Kyoto painting. His European trip in 1900 transformed his relationship with animals: in Dresden, he observed a living lion for the first time and also studied Western collections. Lion's head, linked to the large Lion or Tiger and Lion screens from 1901 -1902, translates this encounter into a mass of mane, a powerful muzzle and a look without superfluous decoration. More than twenty years later, Cat tabby, painted in 1924 in silk color and today classified as an important cultural property, shows another regime attention. The cat turns around, back arched, as if surprised in the middle of a movement; stripes and fur are not ornaments but traces of muscular tension. Seihô combines sketches from nature, economics of the Japanese brush and volume lessons learned in Europe without submitting to each other. The "Takeuchi Seihô" selection notably compares Lion's Head and Tiger Cat. His reading favors composition.

Seihô does not copy fur hair by hair: he chooses traits capable of making it feel that a lion weighs and that a cat can pounce the next moment.