NEW YORK, NY.- This January, Ronin Gallery invites you to start the year with Keinen Imao’s winter volume of Keinen’s Flower-and-Bird Painting Manual (1891-1892). Between plush pine needles and snow-covered plum boughs, this Meiji-period master of kacho-ga (bird-and-flower pictures) captures the quiet beauty of the season through its flora and fauna. Against the pale backdrop of the winter, Keinen’s compositions bristle with life as nimble feet curl around branches and delicate feathers rustle in myriad colors. Blending painterly lines and naturalistic representation, Keinen’s woodblock prints invite you to experience the life stirring beneath winter’s chill.

Keinen Imao (1845-1923) was a preeminent artist of kacho-ga at the end of the 19th century. Born in Kyoto in 1845, Keinen began his artistic training in painting and calligraphy at age 11. As Japan defined its modern identity following the Meiji Restoration of 1868, he established his own studio and worked in a unique style rich in naturalistic detail. By 1888, he became a professor at the Kyoto Prefectural School of Painting, securing his role in Kyoto’s art circles. He was appointed to the Art Committee of the Imperial Household in 1904 and became a member of the Imperial Art Academy in 1919. Keinen exhibited extensively throughout his career-from Kyoto to Paris-winning many awards.

Kacho-ga achieved fresh artistic resonance during the Meiji period (1868-1912). In Japan the genre projected a shifting sense of national identity, while to foreign audiences, the genre offered a salve to an increasingly industrialized world. This global popularity invited a symbiotic relationship between artists and artisans. Like many painters of his time, Keinen supported his prominent painting career through textile design. As early as 1874 Keinen collaborated with Chiso, a Kyoto-based textile manufacturer and wholesaler, on underdrawings for fabric designs. Chiso commissioned the four-volume album Keinen’s Flower-and-Bird Painting Manual (Keinen kacho gafu) to serve as a source of inspiration for textile designers. Keinen worked closely with the renowned naturalist Akio Yamamoto and master artisans to bring the four seasons to life. By the end of the 19th century, Keinen's volumes had reached well beyond Japan as they were exhibited beside Chiso’s textiles at international exhibitions throughout Europe and the United States. Today, the set can be found in the British Museum, Harvard Art Museum, and the National of Asian Art at the Smithsonian, to name a few. This particular collection was exhibited at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum in 2023.