Screen of wisteria and morning glory with dogs

The motif of this screen, consisting of wisteria and morning glory plants with fourteen puppies playing below is in the style of MARUYAMA Okyo, this demonstrating that Seiho studied classical works. The unpainted area has been used effectively to create a feeling of space while the cute young puppies have been portrayed with fine brushstrokes. This work is very valuable as it allows us a glimpse of his early work.
TAKEUCHI Seiho was born in Kyoto and studied the Shijo style of painting under KONO Bairei. He traveled to Europe in 1900 where he came into contact with Western art. He fused traditional Japanese painting with Western styles to produce landscapes, animals, portraits, etc., and he was active as a leader of the Kyoto art world put a lot of energy into educating the next generation of artists and among his students were TSUCHIDA Bakusen and UEMURA Shoen. Although Kyoto remained the base for his activities, he met the writer, MORI Ogai, when they were both judges for the Bunten (Ministry of Education Art Exhibition).