Urakami (Uragami) Gyokudō 浦上玉堂

Urakami Gyokudō, also written Uragami Gyokudō (1745-1820), was a Japanese painter, musician, poet, and calligrapher associated with the Nanga, or literati, school. Born in the Okayama region, he served as a samurai retainer of the Ikeda before leaving his post to travel and devote himself to the arts. In his lifetime he was best known as a player of the Chinese seven-string zither, the qin, and he took up painting seriously only in his late forties, producing his finest landscapes in his last decade. Working in monochrome ink on paper, he built atmospheric mountain scenes from layered wet and dry brushwork.