; original name Araki Katsumochi 1578 – July 20, 1650) was a Japanese artist of the early

Tokugawa period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

, who specialized in genre scenes of historical events and illustrations of classical Japanese and Chinese literature, as well as portraits. He was the son of

Araki Murashige was a retainer of Ikeda Katsumasa, head of the powerful "Setssu-Ikeda clan" of Settsu Province. Under Katsumasa, Murashige sided with Oda Nobunaga following Nobunaga's successful campaign to establish power in Kyoto. Military life Murashige b ...

, a prominent ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...

'' of the

Sengoku period The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...

who had been made to commit suicide, leaving Matabei to be raised with his mother's family name, Iwasa. Matabei's work was noted for its distinctive figures, with large heads and delicately drawn features, and he was effective both in colour and monochrome

ink-wash painting Ink wash painting ( zh, t=水墨畫, s=水墨画, p=shuǐmòhuà) is a type of Chinese ink brush painting which uses washes of black ink, such as that used in East Asian calligraphy, in different concentrations. It emerged during the Tang dynas ...

, using an individual brush technique combining Tosa and Kanō elements. Although trained by Kanō Naizen 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 era, Meiji period which began in 1868, by which time the school had divided i ...

, he was more influenced by the traditions 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 signed a late series of portraits of the

Thirty-six Poetry Immortals The are a group of Japanese poets of the Asuka, Nara, and Heian periods selected by Fujiwara no Kintō as exemplars of Japanese poetic ability. The oldest surviving collection of the 36 poets' works is '' Nishi Honganji Sanju-rokunin Kashu ...

(1640) commissioned by the ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military rulers of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, except during parts of the Kamak ...

Tokugawa Iemitsu was the third ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate, Tokugawa dynasty. He was the eldest son of Tokugawa Hidetada with Oeyo, and the grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Lady Kasuga was his wet nurse, who acted as his political adviser and was at the ...

for a temple as "the artist Matabei of the later current from

Tosa Mitsunobu was a Japanese painter, the founder of the Tosa school of Japanese painting. Born into a family that had traditionally served as painters to the Imperial court, he was head of the court painting bureau from 1493 to 1496. In 1518, he was appointe ...

". The works of Matabei have an affinity with the early paintings of , but there is a disagreement among scholars as to whether they are themselves or not. In Japan, it is common to regard Matabei as the originator of . On the other hand, there is a theory that Matabei is not the source of , but rather an independent painter of the Tosa school, because his patrons were from high social classes. According to this theory, he is misunderstood as the source of only because he is confused with the painter of the same name (Ōtsu no Matabei) who appears in

Chikamatsu , real name , was a Japanese dramatist of jōruri, the form of puppet theater that later came to be known as bunraku, and the live-actor drama, kabuki. The ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' has written that he is "widely regarded as the greatest Japa ...

's plays. His son Katsushige (d. 1673) was also a painter, known for dancing figures in a style like that of his father.

Notable works

The only work by Iwasa Matabei that has been designated a

National Treasure A national treasure is a structure, artifact, object or cultural work that is officially or popularly recognized as having particular value to the nation, or representing the ideals of the nation. The term has also been applied to individuals or ...

is , which is held by the

Tokyo National Museum The or TNM is an art museum in Ueno Park in the Taitō wards of Tokyo, ward of Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the four museums operated by the , is considered the oldest national museum and the largest art museum in Japan. The museum collects, prese ...

. The term refers to depicting the scenery and customs of the urban and suburban areas of

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

. Numerous works were created from the

to the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

, and only two works by Iwasa Matabei and

Kanō Eitoku was a Japanese painter who lived during the Azuchi–Momoyama period of Japanese history and one of the most prominent patriarchs of the Kanō school of Japanese painting. Life and works Born in Kyoto, Eitoku was the grandson of Kanō Motonob ...

have been designated as National Treasures. Matabei's work depicts the Kyoto landscape around 1615 and is known as the "Funaki version" because it was owned by the Funaki family. It shows the

Nijō Castle is a flatland Japanese castle, 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

Tokugawa clan The is a Japanese dynasty which produced the Tokugawa shoguns who ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868 during the Edo period. It was formerly a powerful ''daimyō'' family. They nominally descended from Emperor Seiwa (850–880) and were a branch of ...

on the left and the Hōkō-ji Great Buddha Hall, symbolizing the

Toyotomi clan The was a Japanese clan that ruled over the Japanese before the Edo period. Unity and conflict The most influential figure within the Toyotomi was Toyotomi Hideyoshi, one of the three "unifiers of Japan". Oda Nobunaga was another primary ...

, on the right. Scenes in and around Kyoto Funaki 1.jpg, Left panel of the (Funaki Version).

. Scenes in and around Kyoto Funaki 2.jpg, Right panel of the (Funaki Version). National Treasure. is a work depicting the festival held at Toyokuni Shrine in 1604 to commemorate the seventh anniversary of

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods and regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: ...

's death. It has been designated as an Important Cultural Property and is housed in the

Tokugawa Art Museum The is a private art museum, located on the former '' Ōzone Shimoyashiki'' compound in Nagoya, central Japan. Its collection contains more than 12,000 items, including swords, armor, Noh costumes and masks, lacquer furniture, Chinese and Japane ...

. Although the preparations for this festival were carried out under the direction of

Tokugawa Ieyasu Tokugawa Ieyasu (born Matsudaira Takechiyo; 31 January 1543 – 1 June 1616) was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was the third of the three "Gr ...

, the missionary

Jean Crasset Jean Crasset (b. at Dieppe, Seine-Maritime, Dieppe, France, 3 January 1618; d. at Paris, 4 January 1692) was a French Jesuit theologian, known as an ascetical writer. Life He entered the Society of Jesus in 1638, and became professor of humaniti ...

analyzes that Ieyasu's intention was to adopt Hideyoshi's achievements as his own. On the left side of the artwork, there is a scene of people in the city dancing enthusiastically in extravagant costumes against the backdrop of the Hōkō-ji Great Buddha Hall. On the right, there is a scene depicting the dedication of the traditional dances ''

noh is a major form of classical Japanese dance-drama that has been performed since the 14th century. It is Japan's oldest major theater art that is still regularly performed today. Noh is often based on tales from traditional literature featuri ...

'' and ''

dengaku were rustic Japanese celebrations that can be classified into two types: that developed as a musical accompaniment to rice planting observances, and the dances that developed in conjunction with . The celebrated for rice planting was perform ...

'' at the Toyokuni Shrine. Matabei established a workshop and painted magnificent and long based on the text of . The

MOA Museum of Art The is a private museum in the city of Atami, Japan. The museum is the third museum established to house the art collection of Mokichi Okada, the founder of the , and was founded in 1982. The first museum, the Hakone Museum of Art ( ja), was ...

houses three masterpieces: , , and . These three works are considered masterpieces, with the first two being designated as Important Cultural Properties. tells the story of Ushiwaka's revenge for the murder of his mother,

Tokiwa Gozen Tokiwa Gozen (常盤御前) (1138 – c. 1180), or Lady Tokiwa, was a Japanese noblewoman of the late Heian period and mother of the great samurai general Minamoto no Yoshitsune. Sources disagree as to whether she was a concubine or wife to Mi ...

. depicts a romantic story involving Ushiwaka. tells the story of Horie Saburo's child who seeks revenge for the death of his parents. The work titled in the

Yamatane Museum The Yamatane Museum of Art (山種美術館, ''Yamatane Bijutsukan'') is a museum in Japan specializing in the nihonga style of Japanese watercolour painting. It is run by the Yamatane art foundation. The Yamatane museum was opened in 1966 by th ...

is one of the works created by dividing a pair of folding screens, each with six panels that originally depicting twelve different subjects into twelve parts, each of which was transformed into an individual hanging scroll. This particular work of art has been designated as an Important Cultural Property.

Notes

References

*Encyclopædia Britannica, "Iwasa Matabei" *Paine, Robert Treat, in: Paine, R. T. & Soper A, "The Art and Architecture of Japan", Pelican History of Art, 3rd ed 1981, Penguin (now Yale History of Art),

External links

Bridge of dreams: the Mary Griggs Burke collection of Japanese art
a catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Iwasa Matabei (see index)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iwasa, Matabei 1578 births 1650 deaths Ukiyo-e artists 16th-century Japanese people 17th-century Japanese artists Japanese portrait painters People from Itami, Hyōgo