Kanō Motonobu

waterfall

Kanō Motonobu ( Japanese 狩 野 元 信; born August 28, 1476 ; died November 5, 1559 , youth name: Shirōjirō (四郎 二郎)), son of the founder of the Kanō school , Kanō Masanobu, developed within the Japanese painting of the Azuchi Momoyama period continued the style of the school and cemented its reputation.

Life

Motonobu was the son and heir of the painter Kanō Masanobu, the founder of the Kanō school. He received the honorary titles Ōi no suke (大 炊 助) and Echizen no kami (越 前 守) and was awarded the title Hōgen (法眼) in the later years .

Motonobu lived in a time of political turmoil, but managed to get through life safely and demonstrate his position as an artist. With his talent as a painter, he followed his father to the position of the official artist of the Shogunate with the title Goyō-eshi (御用 絵 師). But he also received orders from the imperial family, from the aristocracy, from temples and shrines and from rich citizens of Kyoto and the surrounding area.

Based on written sources it is known that Motonobu designed adjustable screens and sliding doors for the Ishiyama Hongan-ji in Osaka between 1539 and 1553. It seems that he also designed fans, as there is a document in which he is named next to the prominent fan maker Hasuike Hideaki, who was based at the Eimyō-in of the Tōfuku-ji , on the subject of infringement of rights .

Motonobu used his father's Chinese techniques as the basis for his style. He also studied the art of the Song , Yuan and Ming times. On the basis of these studies, he standardized the brushstroke of the Kanō school, which he divided into the types "formal", "running" and "grass". At the same time he dealt with the painting of the Tosa School and their way of creating Yamato-e . This led to a new way of painting adjustable screens and murals (障 壁画, shōhekiga ), in which Chinese design and a Japanese sense of color are combined. This style became increasingly popular and shaped the images of the Momoyama period with its splendid color scheme and gilding.

Works (selection)

His designs for sliding doors include the

• "Flowers and birds of the four seasons" (四季 花鳥 図, Shiki kachō-zu ) and "Founders" (祖師 図, Soshi-zu ) in the Daisen-in within the Daitoku-ji ,
• "Flowers and birds of the four seasons", "Snowy landscape" (雪景 山水 図, Sekkei sansui-zu ) and "Landscape in broken lines" (破 墨 山水 図, Haboku sansui-zu ) in the Reiun-in (霊 雲 院) im Tofuku-ji ,
• "Flowers and birds" owned by the Nishiwaki family is typical of an ink screen , while the "Eight Views of Xiāoxiāng" (瀟湘 八景) in Tōkai-an (東海 庵) are representative of hanging pictures.

The "Legend of Seiryō-ji" (清凉寺 縁 起 絵 巻, Seiryō-ji engi emaki ) in the Seiryō-ji in Kyoto is an example of a picture scroll. The images of a horse in the Kamo Shrine in Hyogo Prefecture are votive images. “The three religions”, represented by Confucius , Laozi and Buddha , can be seen on a fan located in the “ Freer Gallery of Art ” in Washington DC.

pictures

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  In the Daisen-in

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  In the Daisen-in

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  Four seasons (autumn and winter)

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  Four seasons (spring and summer)

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  Votive horse

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  Votive horse

Remarks

1. ↑ Owned by the Mitsui Art Museum
2. ↑ The temple later had to give way because Toyotomi Hideyoshi wanted to use the monastery grounds to build a castle.
3. ↑ The assignment to Motonobu is not always certain.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Tazawa, Yutaka: Biographical Dictionary of Japanese Art . Kodansha International, 1981. ISBN 0-87011-488-3 .
2. ↑ ^{a b} Suzuki, Toshihiko (ed.): Kanō Motonobu. In: Nihon daihyakka zensho (Denshibukku-han , Shogakukan), 1996.

literature

• Matsumoto, Hiroshi: Kanō-ke no chi to chikara. Kodansha Ensho Mechie 30, 1994. ISBN 978-4-06-258030-4 .
• S. Noma (Ed.): Kanō Motonobu . In: Japan. An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Kodansha, 1993. ISBN 4-06-205938-X , p. 740.

Web links

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

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