Parakeets among Hydrangeas and Poppies

Two parakeets rest among flowers on an early summer day. The composition is dominated by the large branch of hydrangea but anchored in the lower left corner by a rock and colorful poppies. Chinese painting techniques, including shading on the petals and leaves and a light, uneven wash of ink in the background, are used to heighten the sense of three-dimensionality. The painter, born Kusumoto Kōhachirō in Edo, studied Chinese bird-and-flower painting in Nagasaki, first under Japanese followers of the celebrated Chinese realist painter Shen Nanpin and later under Song Ziyan, who inspired him to adopt the name Sō Shiseki (pronounced “Song Zishi” in Chinese).