Lotus Pond

Hashimoto Gaho was born in Edo, and flourished as a school manager under Kano Shosenin Tadanobu. He worked in posts as a professor in the Department of Painting at the Tokyo Fine Arts School (currently Tokyo University of the Arts) and as the individual in charge of establishing Nihon Bijutsuin (literally "Japan Art Institute"), and cultivated numerous geniuses, including Yokoyama Taikan, Hishida Shunso, and Kawai Gyokudo. In this piece, Hashimoto has skillfully evoked the feel of lotus leaves with an ink style rich in shading, and has colored the lotus flowers with gofun (whitewash), accentuating the work's purity and solemnity. A single wagtail brings movement to the image, and gold paint applied faintly in the background lends further depth and expanse to the image.