What initially attracts our interest is the allure of the Chinese peony flowers, bursting forth in full bloom from among the luxuriant leaves and stems. We can even see the veins in the leaves and the stems have a gentle curve, painted thick and fleshy just as they appear in life. A study in realism, the pictorial surface isolates a selected area from a disorganized array of phenomena, though the butterflies fluttering about restore a sense of reality. After a five-year period of moving from place to place, living in temporary accommodations while he devoted himself wholeheartedly to artistic production, Seiju returned to settle in Tokyo in 1924. From this period onwards he gradually placed more and more emphasis on realistic expression in his works, while including the decorativism that had always been present in Japanese painting. His realistic style reached full maturity in the Taisho period (1912–1926), and Seiju painted Peonies as he moved into his next stage of development.
