Itō Jakuchū

Itō Jakuchū (born March 2, 1716, Kyōto, Japan—died Oct. 27, 1800, Kyōto) was a Japanese painter of the mid-Tokugawa period (1603–1867) who excelled in drawing flowers, fish, and birds, especially fowl, which he used to keep at his home in order to observe them closely. The son of a greengrocer, he first studied drawing with a painter of the Kanō school (stressing Chinese subject matter and techniques). He also made copies of old Chinese masters....