Setsu gekka [snow, moon, flowers] － Snow (Kawai Gyokudō)

After reviving the Japan Art Institute, to enlist allies for the institute’s projects, Taikan often went on headhunting expeditions to Kyoto. Taikan had taught at what would later become the Kyoto City University of Arts, and so did one potential recruit, Takeuchi Seihō. Over dinner in an elegant restaurant in leafy eastern Kyoto, however, he failed persuade this leading figure in the Kyoto art scene. For a while, they lost contact. Then, after Tokyo was devastated by the Great Kantō earthquake in 1923, Seihō and Taikan cooperated to organize the Tankōkai exhibition, which Gyokudō also joined. With sections individually painted by Taikan, Seihō and Gyokudō, this ‘triptych’ was created at that time. Borrowed from Chinese art, setsugekka literally refers to snow, moon, and flowers. This seasonal-transition theme is much loved in Japan and has been the subject of many beautiful works of art. Viewing this joint version, you can feel the spirit of each artist, who in his own way, came up with a modern twist to tradition.