Suzuki Kiitsu

Suzuki Kiitsu was born in Edo in 1796 and died in 1858. His given name was Motonaga and his courtesy name was Shien. Around the age of 18 he became a live-in pupil of Sakai Hoitsu, and after the death of Suzuki Reitan, Hoitsu's attendant, he married Reitan's elder sister Ryo and became a retainer of the Sakai family.

Hoitsu trusted him greatly and often entrusted him with painting on his behalf. While faithfully carrying on his teacher's style, after Hoitsu's death he pursued his own, excelling at bird-and-flower paintings and establishing a new Rinpa expression based on sharp sketching sense grounded in the observation of nature.

His work is said to stand out for an urban refinement and intellectual decorativeness that lead toward the modern era, and he is regarded as a forerunner of modern Nihonga. He also left e-hyogu, a kind of trompe l'oeil in which even the mounting is painted. His works include "Wind God and Thunder God" (sliding doors) and "Bush Clover and Moon" (sliding doors).