Shōkadō Shōjō

calligraphy

Ink painting

Bamboo and sparrow

Shōkadō Shōjō ( Japanese 松花 堂 昭 乗 ; born 1582 in Sakai ; died October 14, 1639 ) was a Japanese painter of the Momoyama period , one of the "three calligraphers of the Kan'ei period".

life and work

Shōkadō was a son of the Nakanuma family who belonged as officials to the Ichijō-in in Nara, and was called Nakanuma Shikibu ( 中 沼 式 部 ). For a time he followed the court official and calligrapher Konoe Nobutada , but later he became a monk of the Shingon direction of Buddhism and lived on the grounds of Iwashimizu Hachiman-gū south of Kyoto in a residence called Takimoto-bō ( 滝 本 坊 ) . After a while he left the property to a student, called himself Shōjō-ō ( 惺 々 翁 ) and built a new residence, which he called Shōkadō. He then took over Shōkadō as a stage name.

Shōkadō is believed to have studied under Kanō Sanraku , but the facts are poor. It is evident, however, that he was versed in both Chinese ink painting and the style of multi-colored Yamato-e . But he is best known for his ink paintings, which he executed with quick, casual brushstrokes in the style of the Song and Yuan times . This was also the style appreciated by tea ceremony lovers . He himself was a collector of materials for the tea ceremony, which are listed in the Hachiman zōchō ( 八 幡 蔵 帖 ).

Shōkadō also developed a special style that was based on Kōbō Daishi and which was then called "Takimoto style". Representative works include a self-portrait owned by the Mino family and "God Hachiman as a Buddhist Monk" owned by the Iwashimazu Hachiman Shrine .

Remarks

1. ↑ The other two calligraphers were Konoe Nobutada and Hon'ami Kōetsu .

literature

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

Web links

Commons : Shōkadō Shōjō  - collection of images, videos and audio files

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