Flower Cart c. 19th century

Shibata Zeshin made this painting of a flower cart sometime in the 19th century. The work uses ink and color on paper. Zeshin lived through a time of great social and political change in Japan. The Tokugawa shogunate fell and the Meiji Restoration began. Artists started looking to the West for inspiration, but Zeshin remained committed to traditional Japanese art forms. Here we see a flower cart, with chrysanthemums and other blossoms overflowing from its basket. Red ribbons stream out from the arrangement, curving gently in the breeze. The painting shows a moment of fleeting beauty, a reminder of the transience of life. Zeshin also worked as a lacquer artist, and his paintings often incorporate lacquer-like effects, which can be appreciated through careful visual analysis. Art historians might look at how Zeshin's work both reflects and resists the changing social and artistic norms of his time. His art reminds us of the complex relationship between tradition and modernity.