A group of artists who produced bird-and-flower painting introduced to Japan by the Chinese artist Shen Nanpin (Jp: Shin Nanpin 沈南蘋; also known as Shen Quan 沈銓; approximate dates 1682-1780). Shen Nanpin, a relatively unknown painter of Ming academic styles, was invited to Japan by a high official. He arrived in Nagasaki in the final month of 1731 with two of his pupils. Shen stayed for two years. His paintings soon became extremely popular with the Japanese. Shen had many pupils while in Japan, and continued to send paintings to Japanese friends, patrons and admirers after his return to China in 1733. Paintings were also sent by members of his school in China, creating some confusion as to which works are really by the master's hand. Much of Nanpin's popularity resulted from a growing Japanese taste during the 18th century for realistic depictions at a time when interest in Western ideas was developing. Although this painting style had its roots in traditional Chinese decorative bird-and-flower painting, the influence of European realistic art which had been introduced to China primarily by Jesuit missionaries during the early 18th century is also apparent. The realism that Japanese saw in this painting came from: 1) a meticulous depiction of animals and flowers, (set in the foreground of most compositions) in minute brushwork and in color; 2) a sense of volume imparted to depictions of trees and rocks (used to frame the main elements), created often by graded application of a profusion of tiny brushstrokes on the outside edges of forms, leaving the center areas blank. Despite the seeming realism, however, the style is also quite decorative. For example, the compositional layouts arbitrarily focus the viewer's attention on the main motifs, which frequently are drawn in rich color, while the background elements were in freer style ink painting.
Shen Nanpin's influence in Japan was profound, extending widely. His chief pupil, Kumashiro Yūhi 熊代熊斐 (1693/1713-72), played an important role in transmitting the new style. Yūhi altered the tradition somewhat, filling the foreground of a composition with his subject matter and using fewer motifs. Brushwork was simplified, and the sense of spacial recession was reduced. As a result, the overall effect became more dramatic. Yūhi had many pupils, one of the most important being Sō Shiseki 宋紫石 (1712-86), who had been born in Edo but journeyed to Nagasaki 長崎 in 1740. Sō Shiseki carried the style of Shen Nanpin, and of his other Chinese teacher, Sung Tsuyen, back to Edo and became the most important transmitter of the style in that area. Sō Shiseki understood and mastered the Shen Nanpin style but simplified the brushwork and motifs to create a more two-dimensional effect. His pupils include the *Rinpa 琳派 artist Sakai Hōitsu 酒井抱一 (1761-1828) and Shiba Kōkan 司馬江漢 (1747-1818). The style even influenced the *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 school, affecting the bird-and-flower designs of artists such as Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾北斎 (1760-1849). Another pupil of Yūhi was the Nagasaki born Kakutei 鶴艇 (1722-85), an Ōbaku 黄檗 monk (see *ōbakuga 黄檗画). He introduced the style to the Kyoto and Kinki 近畿 areas, influencing such artists as Yanagisawa Kien 柳沢淇園 (1706-58), who inscribed several of Kakutei's paintings. Kakutei painted both bird-and-flower subjects and ink, bamboo and plum, with an emphasis on reduction and simplification of the design elements and their dramatic arrangement against flat, empty space. Other painters affected by the introduction of the Shen Nanpin tradition to the Kyoto area included Maruyama Ōkyo 円山応挙 (1733-95). He incorporated many elements of the style in the development of his own innovative painting, which emphasized both a decorative nature and an attention to realism. Shen Nanpin's stylistic elements became an integral part of the subsequent Maruyama-Shijō tradition *Maruyama-Shijō ha 円山四条派. Several *nanga 南画 painters also came under the Shen Nanpin influence: besides the above-mentioned Yanagisawa Kien, Yosa Buson 与謝蕪村 (1716-83), Tani Bunchō 谷文晁 (1763-1840) and his pupil Watanabe Kazan 渡辺華山 (1793-1841) were among the other artists who adopted elements of the style. In addition, the artists Gan Ku 岸駒 (1749/56-1838; see *Kishi-ha 岸派), Mori Sosen 森祖仙 (1747-1821) and Itō Jakuchū 伊藤若冲 (1716-1800) are among the many individualists who are thought to have been influenced by the school. The Nanpinha's popularity resulted from the growing taste for realism in Japan during the 18th century. The sheer novelty of the style and its decorative appeal also contributed to its popularity. As a result, the Shen Nanpin tradition became an important influence on the development of Edo painting.