Kanō Masanobu

Zhou admires the lotus.

landscape

Kanō Masanobu ( Japanese 狩 野 正 信 ; born 1434 ; died August 2, 1530 ) was a Japanese painter and founder of the Kanō school .

life and work

It is believed that Masanobu came from the Kanō family in Izu Province . He learned painting under his father Kanō Kagenobu, also under Shūbun and Oguri Sōtan . After Sōtan's death in 1481, he was his successor as the official painter of the Muromachi Shogunate. During the years 1483 to 1484 he produced adjustable screens and created wall paintings ( 障 壁画 , Shōheki-ga ) for the Higashiyama villa of Shōgun Ashikaga Yoshimasa . Around 1489 Masanobu was promoted from the post of Ōi no suke to Echizen no kami ( 越 前 守 ).

Around 1490 he joined a Buddhist order and was given the name Yūsei ( 祐 勢 , 友 清 , 祐 盛 ). He also received the honorary title of Hokkyō. From written evidence it is known that Masanobu painted not only murals but also portraits and pictures with Buddhist content, although only a few paintings have survived that are undoubtedly attributable to him.

The image of a mounted warrior, which is kept in the Jizō-in, and which shows Shōgun Ashikaga Yoshihisa riding to battle, is probably from him. Exemplary ink paintings by him are a landscape ( 山水 図 Sansui-zu ) owned by the Konishi family, the picture entitled " Zhou Dunyi admires the lotus" with the philosopher Zhou from the Song dynasty owned by the Nakamura family.

Masnobu used various Chinese painting techniques to create a realistic style that was easy to understand and also suitable for painting in the style of Yamato-e . His style was further developed under his son Motonobu and then became the style that made the Kano school famous.

Remarks

1. ↑ Ōi no suke ( 大 炊 助 ) is a medium-high title, originally first assistant to the caretaker at the court.
2. ↑ Hokkyō ( 法 橋 ) was originally a title of the priest, but it was later given to artists and scholars.

literature

• Tazawa, Yutaka: Kanō Masanobu . In: Biographical Dictionary of Japanese Art . Kodansha International, 1981, ISBN 0-87011-488-3 .
• Laurance P. Roberts: Masanobu . In: A Dictionary of Japanese Artists . Weatherhill, 1976, ISBN 0-8348-0113-2 .

Web links

Commons : Kanō Masanobu  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ^ National Treasure , owned by the Tokyo National Museum
2. ↑ An important cultural asset of Japan , owned by the Kyushu National Museum .

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Kanō is the family name, Masanobu the first name.