Blue Phoenix

Ōmura Kōyō’s Blue Phoenix overwhelms the viewer with a close-up view of a lush tropical forest inhabited by a bird species known as the great argus. A pair on the right perches calmly, in contrast with the active male bird on the left, who is engaged in a mating dance and fans his patterned feathers out across multiple panels. The whole work also features the bright red-and-orange blossoms of the royal poinciana flower. The artist observed made in sketches of this wildlife during a trip to the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia).