Tomioka Tessai

Tomioka Tessai (1910-1920)

Gisazu ( 艤 槎 図 , 1924)

Tomioka Tessai ( Japanese 富 岡 鉄 斎 ) or Tomioka Yusuke and Tomioka Hyakuren (born January 25, 1836 in Kyōto ; † December 31, 1924 ibid) was a Japanese painter and calligrapher . He was considered the last great master of the Bunjinga tradition and one of the first artists of the Nihonga style.

Work and life

Tessai was born as the second son of the sacred robe dealer Tomioka Korenobu. At the request of his parents, he did not become a trader like his father, but initially a civil servant who was entrusted with various Shinto shrines in Kyoto, Yamata and Izumi. Another area of ​​interest Tessai was philosophy. The writings of Confucius and the Buddhist monk Otagaki Rengetsuni were particularly important to him. For a time Tessai campaigned for the re-establishment of the emperor as supreme authority and had to flee to Nagasaki in 1859 for his political endeavors . He lived for a time as a Shinto monk in the monasteries of Isonokami and Ōtori . In 1881 he left the monastery and from then on devoted himself only to painting. In 1882 he returned to his homeland and received a teaching post at the city art school. In 1917 he was awarded the title of court painter and in 1919 membership of the Imperial Academy of the Arts .

Tessai studied classical Japanese literature and Sinology from early childhood . He did not learn his art from a master of painting, but developed himself as an autodidact. However, he was influenced by the style of the old Chinese and Japanese masters in his work. His interest in calligraphy helped him develop a unique brush style. He was one of the few painters of the Meiji Restoration era who was not influenced by the West.

Web links

Commons : Tomioka Tessai  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Tessai Memorial Museum (Japanese)
• Tomioka Tessai (1836-1924) 富 岡 鐵 斎 Hanging Scroll (Kakemono 掛 物)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Eczacibaşi Sanat Ansiklopedisi (German: Ezacibaşi Kunstenzyklopädie ) Editor: Yem Yayin (Yapi-Endüstri Merkezi Yayinlari), page 1800, 3rd edition, 1997 ISBN 975-7438-54-5 (Turkish)
2. ↑ Adachi Museum: Information on Tessai ( Memento of the original from June 19, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English) 
3. ↑ Encyclopedia Britannica: Information on Tessai (English)

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