three men, one Chinese, one Japanese, and one Western, gathered around a table, the Western man holds a book with a skeleton on the page; white snake wrapped around Japanese man's PR wrist; in background, groups of men gather to extinguish a building engulfed in flame; a group of men look on from a cliff

A Meeting of Japan, China, and the West, late 18th - early 19th century

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A European, a Japanese, and a Chinese man sit around a table. As the European has a book showing a skeleton, he is believed to be the German doctor Lorenz Heister (1683–1758), whose writings circulated in Japan in the mid-18th century. Kōkan is considered the father of Western-style painting in Japan, and this painting is attributed to him even though no other works by him have this style of signature and seals.

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Details
Title
A Meeting of Japan, China, and the West
Artist Life
1747 - 1818
Role
Artist
Accession Number
2013.29.158
Curator Approved

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three men, one Chinese, one Japanese, and one Western, gathered around a table, the Western man holds a book with a skeleton on the page; white snake wrapped around Japanese man's PR wrist; in background, groups of men gather to extinguish a building engulfed in flame; a group of men look on from a cliff