Peony

A second peony composition by Settai, likely treating the same subject through a different angle, color scheme, or pairing of bloom and foliage. Working in series on a single motif was a common practice among Japanese print designers, allowing exploration of variations in palette and arrangement while maintaining a recognizable visual language. This version may emphasize the leaves and stems rather than the flower head, or present the bloom in a more advanced stage of opening. Settai's flower prints typically employ a restricted palette — often three or four blocks — with each color contributing a distinct shape rather than blending into modeled volume. The cut of the keyblock would be precise but unadorned, free of the decorative flourishes that animate his figural work. Within his broader output, peony subjects connect Settai to the kacho-e lineage that runs from Koson and Hokusai back through Korin's screen paintings, while his particular stylization places him firmly within the modernizing tendencies of Taisho-era nihonga.