A World of Edo Art
Watanabe Shikō (1683–1755) was a Kyoto painter born into a samurai family. He first studied with the Kanō School, then with the Rinpa artist Ogata Kōrin. As a teenager, Shikō decorated ceramics for Kōrin and his brother Kenzan with Kanō -style paintings, subsequently developing a style of his own. He had a special interest in scientific realism, and, combining his close observations and accurate depictions of flowers and plants with strong ink outlines and gold and silver leaf, he developed an innovative style that influenced many of his peers in Kyoto, including the renowned Maruyama Ōkyo.
