Yamaguchi Soken

Yamaguchi: Geisha

Yamaguchi Soken ( Japanese 山口 素 絢 , sometimes read Sojun, usually Takejirō ( 武 次郎 ); born 1759 in Kyōto ; died November 22, 1818 ) was a Japanese painter of the Maruyama Shijō school during the middle to late Edo period . He was one of the "Ten Significant Maruyama" ( 応 門 十 哲 , Ōmon jūtetsu ).

life and work

Yamaguchi studied under Maruyama Ōkyo and then specialized in pictures of beautiful women. Over time, “the Chinese beauties of Gen Ki and the Japanese beauties of Soken” became proverbial. But he also painted landscapes, genre scenes and flowers and birds .

Soken also produced illustrated books, for example the work with the title Yamato jimbutsu gafu ( 大 和 人物 画譜 ) in 1800 , the work Yamato jimbutsu gafu kōhen ( 大 和 人物 画譜 後 篇 ) and the Soken Yamato jimbutsu gafu ( 素 素大 和 人物 画譜 ). There are works that u. a. portray the customs of the Kyoto area in a light and funny way. Soken was buried in the Dannō-Hōrin-ji ( 檀 王法 林寺 ) in Kyōto.

His best-known works include the sliding-door pictures ( 襖 絵Fusuma -e ) with the title "Summer-Autumn, Flowers and Birds" ( 春秋 花鳥 図Shunjū kachō ) , which he designed together with Matsumura Keibun ( 松 村 景 文 ; 1749–1843) from 1813, which are in the Nezu Museum .

photos

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  Woodcut

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  Woodcut

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  Woodcut

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  Woodcut

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  Sliding doors

Remarks

1. ↑ The other nine were Genki , Nagasawa Rosetsu , Yamaato Kakurei ( 山 跡 鶴 嶺 ), Mori Tetsuzan ( 森 徹 山 ; 1775–1841), Yoshimura Kokei ( 吉 村 孝敬 ; 1769–1836), Oku Bummei ( 奥 文 鳴 ; 1773 –1813), Gessen , Nishimura Nantei ( 西村 楠 亭 ; 1775–1834) and Watanabe Nangaku ( 渡 辺 南岳 ; 1776–1813).

literature

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

Web links

Commons : Yamaguchi Soken  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ In the Nezu Museum.

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . So Yamaguchi is the family name, Soken is the first name.