Minneapolis Institute of Art

Magpies in a Fruit Tree

Painter: Yūhi 熊斐

Date

mid 18th century

Medium

Hanging scroll, ink and color on silk

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Two magpies are squabbling on a branch of a fruit tree, probably a species of pomegranate. Yūhi emulated the style of Shen Quan, a Chinese academic painter who specialized in bird-and-flower subjects and who visited Nagasaki, Japan, from 1731 to 1733. This style combined traditional decorative compositions with elements of Western realism, including chiaroscuro, the contrast of light and dark in visual art. Yūhi championed Shen’s style in Japan and became the earliest proponent of the Nagasaki school, which specialized in such bird-and-flower paintings. Asia

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