Three Friends of Winter and a pheasant

Not much is known of Sato Taikan but for the exceptional quality of his nihonga paintings. Born in Tokyo, he studied under Takamori Saigan (1847-1917) of the Japan Southern Painting Association (Nihon Nangakai)—one of the few groups that continued to champion the Chinese-derived literati style (bunjinga) until the end of the Meiji period. Sato travelled to China in 1920 and spent a large part of his life there, befriending the famous Qi Baishi (1864-1957) and returning to Japan in 1947. Not aligning himself with any faction, he held only solo exhibitions for the remainder of his life. The screen is a representative work of the neo-nanga movement (shin nanga), synthesizing traditional and modern elements in this unmistakable piece.