A World of Edo Art
Sakai Hōitsu (1761–1829) was born into a wealthy, powerful samurai family and became a highly accomplished painter. He began by studying art in the Kanō School and learning other painting styles before he discovered Ogata Kōrin's work and became closely affiliated with Kōrin's artistic style, helping to create the Rinpa School. Hōitsu collaborated with his student Suzuki Kiitsu, to create an illustrated compilation of Kōrin's work, titled One Hundred Paintings by Kōrin (Kōrin hyakuzu).
Hōitsu was also an accomplished haiku poet. Haiku poetics involve fine-tuned observations of daily life in the world around us. Hōitsu embedded this sensibility of the moment—the emotional tenor of the seasonal and climatic conditions of a certain environment—into his paintings, innovating upon Kōrin's Rinpa style.
