Unkoku Tōgan

Sliding doors in the fumon-in

Unkoku Tōgan ( Japanese 雲 谷 等 顔 ; born 1547 ; died Genna 4/5/3 ^lunisolar / June 25, 1618 ^greg. ) Was a Japanese painter of the Momoyama period and founder of the Unkoku school.

Life

Tōgan was the second son of Hara Naoie, prince of the castle Nogomi ( 能 古 見 城 ) in the province of Hizen on the island of Kyūshū , who lost his life in the fight against the Arima (Hizen) . During the Tenshō era (1573–1592) Tōgan entered the service of the powerful daimyō Mōri Terumoto in Hiroshima ( Aki Province ). In 1593 he was commissioned by Termumoto to make a copy of a scroll of Sesshū , which is known as the "Extended Landscape" ( 山水 長 巻 , sansui nagamaki ). The result was so impressive that Tōgan was allowed to keep the role and also received a property in the city of Yamaguchi that Sesshū had once used as a residence and studio. Tōgan then took the name of the house, namely Unkoku-ken, as a family name.

Tōgan was initially influenced by Kanō Eitoku , but then followed in the Sesshū style : most of the works are in black and white, such as the pair of sliding doors (fusuma) in the Ōbai-in ( 黄梅 院 ) temple , a sub-temple of Daitoku built in 1588 -ji in Kyoto, show. Wall paintings by him can also be seen in the sub-temple Fumon-in ( 普 門 院 ) of Tōfuku-ji . In the Tōkyō National Museum there are the painted sliding doors ( fusuma-e ) "Plums and Crows" ( 梅 に 鴉 , Ume ni karasu ), there is also the "Spring and Summer Landscape " screen ( 春夏 山水 図 , Shunka sansui-zu ) .

Tōgan had two sons, Tōoku (d. 1615) and Tōeki (1591-1644). When the Mōri family moved to Hagi, Tōoku stayed in Hiroshima and served the Fukushima . He died early. Tōeki and his father moved to Hagi and continued to serve the Mōri. Tōgan was active in Kyoto from time to time.

photos

• 

  Sliding doors in Ōbai

• 

  Landscape 2

• 

  Landscape 1

Remarks

1. ↑ This pair of screens was shown at the exhibition of ancient Japanese art in 1939 in Berlin. At that time the couple was still owned by Fujise Shin'ichirō. Today in the possession of the Tōkyō National Museum.

literature

• Tazawa, Yutaka: Unkoku Togan. In: Biographical Dictionary of Japanese Art. Kodansha International, 1981.
• Suzuki, Toshihiko (Ed.): Unkoku Togan . In: NIhon daihyakka zensho (Denshibukku-han), Shogakukan, 1996.
• Doi, Tsugiyoshi: Momoyama Decorative Painting. The Heibonsha Survey of Japanese Art. Volume 14. Weatherhill / Heibonsha, 1977. ISBN 0-8348-1024-7 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Yamaguchi Prefecture Art Museum (Yamaguchi kenritsu bijutsukan) : 主 な 収 蔵 作品 リ ス ト 「雪 舟 と 雲 谷 派 ・ そ の 他 の 作家」

Web links

Commons : Unkoku Togan  - 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 Unkoku is the family name, Tōgan the first name.