Kawai Senro

JAPAN, Kyoto; Meiji to Showa period

Kawai Senro was an artist who was originally known as Tokumatsu and also known as Bokusen, among various other aliases. He studied sculpting under Shinoda Kaishin in his early 20s, a period during which he also garnered immense interest in seal engraving as a result of a book he was given on the art form.
The early calligraphy, paintings, and seal engravings Kawai produced were considered excellent, and he was well-reputed throughout the seal engraving community in Japan for not only his works, but his advocacy of the art and devotion to educating others. His specialty was in creating clerical script seals, and he was well-versed in examining and assessing steles, calligraphy, and paintings. His seal works were based on the styles of the Qin (221–207 BCE) and Han (206 BCE–220CE) dynasties of China. In 1900, he traveled to Shanghai to learn under the renowned calligrapher and seal engraver, Wu Changshou. While in China, he became the first Japanese person to join the Xiling Seal Art Society.
Upon his return to Japan, he applied his new knowledge and skills, further impacting and advancing the art of seal engraving in Japan through the establishment of various magazines and the publication of several other written works. His most well-known seals include Inner Joy from Profound Wisdom and Deep Meditation from the Biography of Tiantai Patriarch Master Zhiyi, and Tetsugen of Rinzai.