Kaihō Yūshō

Kaihō, Yūshō Shōeki
Painting of Daruma by Kaihō Yūshō
Painting of Daruma by Kaihō Yūshō
Born 1533
Died 1615
Nationality Japanese
Patron(s) Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Emperor Go-Yōzei

Kaihō Yūshō (海北 友松, 1533–1615); real name: Kaiho Shōeki, "brush name": Yusho (alternative names: Josetsusai, Yūkeisai, Yūtoku), was a Japanese painter of the Azuchi–Momoyama period. He was born in Ōmi province, the fifth son of Kaihō Tsunachika, who was a vassal of Azai Nagamasa.

At an early age he became a page at the Tōfuku-ji (temple) in Kyōto and, later a lay priest. He served there under the abbot and associated with the leading Zen priests of Kyōto. In his forties, Yūshō turned to painting and became a pupil in the Kanō School, either under the famous Kanō Motonobu or his grandson Kanō Eitoku.[1] Then, he worked at Jurakudai, under the patronage of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and the Emperor Go-Yōzei.

At first, he patterned his work after Sung painter Liang Kai, doing only monochrome ink paintings, using a "reduced brush stroke" (gempitsu), relying more on ink washes than sharp hard strokes. Later, he worked in fashionable rich colors and gold leaf. Artistically on a level with Hasegawa Tōhaku and Kanō Eitoku, he gave his name Kaihō to the style of painting he and his followers practiced.[2]

As of the Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition of 1975, most of the artist's extant works were ink paintings produced during his late sixties for the Zen temple Kennin-ji in Kyoto.[3]

Important Cultural Property Status

Several of Yūshō's work have been designated as Registered Important Cultural Property. Among these are the following:[4]

  • Landscape, 1599. Two hanging scrolls, ink on paper. Located in Kennin-ji, Kyoto, Japan
  • Plum and pine, around 1599. Four sliding doors, ink on paper. Located in Zenkyō-an (Kennin-ji), Kyoto, Japan (See detail in "Oiseaux sur une branche de pin" in gallery below.)
  • The four accomplishments, late 16th century. Pair of six-fold screens, ink and light color on paper. Located in Reitō-in (Kennin-ji), Kyoto, Japan

References

  1. ↑ [unnamed] (1975). Momoyama: Japanese Art in the Age of Grandeur (exhibition catalogue). New York, New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. p. 39. ISBN 0-87099-125-6.
  2. ↑ Roberts, Laurance P. (1976). A Dictionary of Japanese Artists. New York and Tokyo: Weatherhill. p. 207.
  3. ↑ [unnamed] (1975). Momoyama: Japanese Art in the Age of Grandeur (exhibition catalogue). New York, New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. p. 5. ISBN 0-87099-125-6.
  4. ↑ [unnamed] (1975). Momoyama: Japanese Art in the Age of Grandeur (exhibition catalogue). New York, New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. pp. 33–39. ISBN 0-87099-125-6.
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