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was a Japanese painter of the
Brief Biography of Kano Tanyu - Jyuluck-Do CorporationWorks in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kano, Tanyu 1602 births 1674 deaths 17th-century Japanese people 17th-century Japanese artists 17th-century Japanese painters Kanō school
was a Japanese painter of the Kanō school
The is one of the most famous schools of Japanese painting. The Kanō school of painting was the dominant style of painting from the late 15th century until the Meiji period which began in 1868, by which time the school had divided into many ...
. One of the foremost Kanō painters, many of the best known Kanō works today are by Tan'yū.
Biography
His original given name was Morinobu; he was the eldest son of Kanō Takanobu and grandson of Kanō Eitoku. In 1617, Tan'yū was appointed by theTokugawa shogunate
The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...
to become the shogunate's first official painter. Over the following years, he was given many highly prestigious commissions. Over the 1620s and 1630s, he created a number of large-scale works for Edo Castle
is a flatland castle that was built in 1457 by Ōta Dōkan in Edo, Toshima District, Musashi Province. In modern times it is part of the Tokyo Imperial Palace in Chiyoda, Tokyo and is therefore also known as .
Tokugawa Ieyasu established ...
, Nijō Castle
is a flatland castle in Kyoto, Japan. The castle consists of two concentric rings ( Kuruwa) of fortifications, the Ninomaru Palace, the ruins of the Honmaru Palace, various support buildings and several gardens. The surface area of the castle is ...
, Osaka Castle
is a Japanese castle in Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan. The castle is one of Japan's most famous landmarks and it played a major role in the unification of Japan during the sixteenth century of the Azuchi-Momoyama period.
Layout
The main tower ...
, Nagoya Castle
is a Japanese castle located in Nagoya, Japan.
Nagoya Castle was constructed by the Owari Domain in 1612 during the Edo period on the site of an earlier castle of the Oda clan in the Sengoku period. Nagoya Castle was the heart of one of the ...
, and Nikkō Tōshō-gū
is a Tōshō-gū Shinto shrine located in Nikkō, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan.
Together with Futarasan Shrine and Rinnō-ji, it forms the Shrines and Temples of Nikkō UNESCO World Heritage Site, with 42 structures of the shrine included in t ...
.
Prolific in a variety of painting styles, Tan'yū's most famous works are probably those he produced for these large-scale commissions. They are screens and panels, prime examples of the Momoyama style, depicting natural subjects such as tigers, birds and plants, in bright colors and with extensive use of gold leaf. The gold, often used to represent clouds, water, or other background elements, would reflect what little light was available indoors, brightening a castle's dark rooms.
Tan'yū was also accomplished, however, in monochrome ink painting based on the prototypical style of the Muromachi period
The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate (''Muromachi bakufu'' or ''Ashikaga bakufu''), which was officially established in 1338 by ...
, ''yamato-e
is a style of Japanese painting inspired by Tang dynasty paintings and fully developed by the late Heian period. It is considered the classical Japanese style. From the Muromachi period (15th century), the term Yamato-e has been used to distingui ...
'' compositions in a style similar to that of the Tosa school
of Japanese painting was founded in the early Muromachi period (14th–15th centuries),,p.988 and was devoted to ''yamato-e'', paintings specializing in subject matter and techniques derived from ancient Japanese art, as opposed to schools influe ...
, and Chinese style scrolls. His most famous ''yamato-e'' work is a narrative handscroll depicting the life of Tokugawa Ieyasu
was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fello ...
, the first Tokugawa shōgun and major figure in Japanese history. It was after this commission, in 1640, that the artist first took on the "artist name" of Tan'yū.
In addition to being a highly honored and respected painter in his own right, Tan'yū was known as a collector and connoisseur of Chinese paintings. He made sketches and kept records of many of the paintings that passed through his studio, brought to him for authentication.
He died in 1674 at the age of 72.See also
*Kusumi Morikage
''The Great Japan Exhibition: Art of the Edo Period 1600–1868'', was a Japanese painter of the Edo period. He came from Kaga Province, the centre of the lands of the Maeda clan. He fell afoul of his teacher, Kanō Tan'yū, and became the M ...
References
*Kaputa, Catherine (1985). "Kanō Tan'yū." ''Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan,'' Tokyo: Kodansha Ltd.External links
Brief Biography of Kano Tanyu - Jyuluck-Do Corporation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kano, Tanyu 1602 births 1674 deaths 17th-century Japanese people 17th-century Japanese artists 17th-century Japanese painters Kanō school