Ashmolean Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

The style of Kigyoku Tokuhō is influenced by the work of the Chinese painter Shen Nan’pin, who arrived in Nagasaki from China in 1731. Shen Nan’pin’s technique had its roots in late Ming bird-and-flower painting and was characterized by botanical accuracy, with a lightness of touch due to colour washes and a lack of visible outlines. Even though he was only in Nagasaki for two years, Shen Nan’pin had many students, whose work influenced future generations who spread this new form of realism in bird-and-flower painting throughout Japan.