Matsumura Keibun

His father died when he was two years old.^[1] He was younger half-brother to Matsumura Goshun,^[2][3][4] founder of the Shijō school, and received his first art lessons from him. He exhibited his works as early as 1796, under the auspices of Minagawa Kein [ja], a showing which included calligraphy. Keibun inherited Goshun's studio when he died in 1811.^[1] By 1813, he was listed in a directory of Kyōto's most notable citizens.

In 1818, for the seventh anniversary of his half-brother's death, he staged an exhibition of his works. In 1829, he painted a group of birds on the ceiling inside of the "Naginata-Hoko" (長刀鉾; roughly, Long Sword Halberd), one of the floats for the Gion Matsuri (festival), which is still in use today.

In 1830, he published an illustrated book; "Go Keibun gafu" (呉景文画譜, Keibun's Art of Painting), which was a significant contribution to establishing Goshun's style. After his death, he was initially interred at the Daitsū-ji [ja], an Ōtani-ha temple, but was later moved to the Konpuku-ji, a more prestigious Zen temple.

His style is similar to Goshun's, but somewhat lighter and what, in Western art, would be called manneristic. His best known works are a set of fusumas (sliding doors) in Myōhō–ji, a Nichiren temple, which are called Shiki kōsaku-zu (四季耕作図; roughly, "Cultivation in the Four Seasons"). He also specialized in paintings of birds and flowers.^[3]

His work is kept in several museums, including the British Museum,^[2] the Seattle Art Museum,^[5] the Birmingham Museum of Art,^[6] the Metropolitan Museum of Art,^[7] the Portland Art Museum,^[8] the Brooklyn Museum,^[9] the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum,^[10] the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston,^[11] the Indianapolis Museum of Art,^[12] the Minneapolis Institute of Art,^[13] the University of Michigan Museum of Art,^[14] and the Honolulu Museum of Art.^[3]