| Transcript |
- OPPOSITE
29. Mitsuoki Tosa (1617-91) [attributed / attribue]
Detail of Jindo Fujoso-zu [A Pictorial Description of the Defilement of Human Existence] / Detail de Jindo Fujoso-zu [Description imagee du deroulement de l'existence humaine] Hanging scroll, colour on silk
painted almost exclusively in the formal Chinese style with its ink monochrome landscapes and Confucian figures. The Kano school was the longest running and most influential in Japanese history. The Kano painters, many of whom moved from Kyoto to Edo, were called upon to use their dynamic brushstrokes, derived from Chinese ink painting, in combination with gold backgrounds to paint sumptuous wall murals, sliding doors (fusuma) and portable folding screens (byobu) for the castles of the shogun and the daimyo as well as hanging scrolls (kakemono) for their alcoves and tea ceremony purposes. The large screen in this publication, Peacocks and Pine Tree, made for Nijo Castle by Kano Sanraku (1559-1635) shows the characteristic flamboyance, extravagance and grandeur of the age. [118]
One of the most gifted Kano painters and probably the foremost painter of the Edo period was Kano Tanyu (1602-74), [28] who was appointed as a court painter to the shogunate at the age of fifteen. He was a versatile and prolific artist, who painted in the conservative character that so suited the regime. Tanyu formalized a set of painting techniques, subject matter and style that would greatly influence all of the later generations of the Kano school. His younger brothers, Kano Naonobu (1607-1650) [103] and Kano Yasunobu (1613-85), also became court artists for the shogunate and were recognized as talented and inspirational painters of the school. Even though the Kano school enjoyed nationwide popularity and there were many talented artists in the school who produced works of great strength and originality, the Kano style would lose its freshness and inspiration and become monotonous, outdated and irrelevant by the late Edo period.
While the Kano school of painting was the official school of the Tokugawa shoguns, the Tosa school of painting was patronized and endorsed by the Emperor�s court in Kyoto. The Tosa school was founded in the 15th century and was devoted to the traditional style of painting called yamato-e} which specialized in subject matter and techniques derived exclusively from ancient Japanese art as opposed to the idealized, idyllic scenes of the Kano school and its Chinese art influences. The Tosa artists painted traditional court subjects, often scenes from Japanese classical literature (especially The Tale of Genji), but in later years also painted bird-and-flower pictures. Their work often showed elegant, detailed brushwork in quite decorative and colourful compositions. When painting a narrative scene, they often made use of a convention called fuki-nuki yatai (roof removing) to show interior spaces. However, like the Kano school, they too became increasingly conventionalized, conservative, static and predictable as they did not develop any new concepts or techniques. One of the most outstanding Tosa painters of the Edo period was Tosa Mitsuoki (1617-91), who became head of the imperial painting bureau and is credited with helping to rejuvenate the tradition Tosa style. An offshoot of the Tosa school, called the Sumiyoshi school, also produced some impressive genre-style paintings, like the album of 36 poets by Shimada Hiroaki (active 1673-80) in this publication. [119]
|
|---|
