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- poetry and calligraphy, and who aspired to the life of their Chinese counterparts. Many of these painters were of the warrior class and, like the Chinese literati, they rejected the court-patronized schools, which in their case were the Kano and Tosa schools. Although they all had an idealistic and romantic view of the world, each of these artists had his own style that matched his own temperament. The favourite subjects were landscapes with figures, trees and flowers. This painting style very quickly established itself as a major artistic movement and, in typical Japanese fashion, it was gradually transformed from being Chinese- inspired into a new and distinctive Japanese form of art. Artists of the Nanga school tended to be more dynamic, inventive and wittier than their Chinese wenren counterparts. The best known nanga masters were Ikeno Taiga (1723-96) [1] and Yosa Buson (1716-83), [113] who elevated this new literati style of painting to perfection. They showed a great sense of confidence and stylistic originality, and because of them the school�s popularity grew rapidly. They played a key role in shaping the distinctively Japanese style of literati painting. Unlike the other painting schools, the Nanga school produced a tremendous number of talented artists who displayed a great variety of styles. Great nanga masters like Uragami Gyokudo (1745-1820), Aoki Mokubei (1767- 1833) and Okada Beisanjin (1744-1818) freely injected unrestrained and complex brushwork. While artists like Tani Buncho (1793-1841)
began experimenting with realistic and Western-style art, others, like Tanomura Chikuden (1777-1835), remained faithful to Chinese models. Third generation literati painters like Yokoi Kinkoku (1761-1832, Yamamoto Baiitsu (1783-1856), [111] Uragami Shunkin (1779-1846), Nukina Kaiku (1778-1863) and Okada Hanko (1782-1846) must also be mentioned as among the great nanga artists. Being anti�establishment painters, many 19th century nanga artists were leaders in opposing the authoritarian feudal government of the shogun. They supported the restoration of power to the Emperor and led the way in the exploration of Western subjects and techniques. The nanga painter and samurai, Fujimoto Tesseki (1817-63), even died in a battle fighting for the Imperial cause.
Late in the 18th century, a school of naturalistic painters emerged called the Maruyama school, established by Maruyama Okyo (1733-95), which adopted Western principles of perspective. A faction led by his pupil, Matsumura Goshun (1752-1811), [112] broke away to set up its own vibrant school of realist painting called the Shijo school, which included such notable artists as the famous lacquer artist Zeshin Shibata (1807-91). The art of individual non-conformist painters like Ito Jakuchu (1716-1800), Mori Sosen (1799-1821) and Nagasawa Rosetsu (1754- 99) also deserves mention. Jakuchu used vivid colours for contrast in his own brand
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32. Zeshin Shibata (1807-91) Landscape of Kinkazan / Paysage de Kinkazan Hanging scroll, lacquer on paper
Zeshin is regarded as the greatest lacquer artist of the 19th century and developed a new technique of painting with lacquer on silk and paper.
33. Kaioku Nukina (1778-1863) Pine Tree / Pin
Hanging scroll, ink on paper
Kaioku was born into a samurai family and became an archery instructor. He became a well-known Confucian scholar, calligrapher and Nanga painter.
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