Silver Pheasant and Peonies Bookmark

Itō Jakuchū (Japanese, 1716–1800)
Silver Pheasant and Peonies, 1793

Ito Jakuchu was obsessed with painting fowl. In his thirties he sketched the barnyard birds around him with nearly scientific attention and a trained eye for composition. Over a long career he continued to draw directly from nature, patiently observing each creature. Among the artist’s bird-and-flower works, Silver Pheasant and Peonies was painted later in life, after a 1788 fire in Kyoto destroyed his home and business—an event that returned him to art with fresh determination.