ARTIST DETAILS

1807-1891

Shibata Zeshin was a Bakumatsu to Meiji period Japanese painter and lacquer artist. Born in Edo (modern Tokyo). His birth name was Kametaro and, later, he was called Junzo. Some of the nicknames are Reisai and Koma. He studied Maki-e under master lacquer artist, Koma Kansai, and studied Shijo school painting under Suzuki Nanrei and Okamoto Toyohiko. He was an artist of many talents and excelled at painting to lacquer craft and Urushi-e (lacquer painting). He also revived Seikai-ha, a technique that was abandoned for so long. Winning awards both in and out of Japan, his success cultivated global acclaim and, in turn, opened a new frontier for Japanese art.