Collection
Maeda Seison
Cormorants1940 91.4×102.1 cm
Gifu Prefecture is noted for its cormorants, and for Seison, a Gifu native, it is this bird that was perhaps closest to his heart. In this painting, the large area of unpainted space for which painters in this traditional painting style are noted creates in the viewer a sense of stillness, while the blue‐green eyes of the cormorants fill the work with a mysterious sense of presence.
Mountain Path in Autumn1966 51.2×81.0 cm
The scents of autumn can almost be enjoyed as one takes in the splendor of autumn‐tinted maple and the reddish‐brown mountain path. The fanciful composition is indeed characteristic of Seison.
Maeda Seison
1885‐1977
Maeda Seison was born in Gifu Prefecture. He devoted himself to studying traditional bureaucracy and copying picture scrolls with Kobayashi Kokei. He also studied classical Japanese literature as an auditor at Kokugakuin University. In 1907, he participated in Koji-kai, an art organization formed by Yasuda Yukihiko and other painters, and attracted much attention as a budding painter. From 1914, he produced works for the Inten Exhibitions. He created masterpieces of historical paintings featuring skillful composition, flowing lines and bright colors.
