was a Japanese painter who lived during the

Azuchi–Momoyama period The was the final phase of the in Japanese history from 1568 to 1600. After the outbreak of the Ōnin War in 1467, the power of the Ashikaga Shogunate effectively collapsed, marking the start of the chaotic Sengoku period. In 1568, Oda Nob ...

of Japanese history and one of the most prominent patriarchs 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 ...

Japanese painting is one of the oldest and most highly refined of the Japanese visual arts, encompassing a wide variety of genres and styles. As with the history of Japanese arts in general, the long history of Japanese painting exhibits synthesis and competiti ...

Life and works

Born in

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 ...

, Eitoku was the grandson of

Kanō Motonobu was a Japanese people, Japanese Japanese painting, painter and Japanese calligraphy, calligrapher. He was a member of the Kanō school of painting. Through his political connections, patronage, organization, and influence he was able to make the ...

(1476–1559), an official painter for the Ashikaga shogunate. He showed his talent for painting at an early age, and at the age of 10 he had an audience with 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 ...

Ashikaga Yoshiteru , also known as Yoshifushi or Yoshifuji, was the 13th ''shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1546 to 1565 during the late Muromachi period of Japan. He was the eldest son of the 12th ''shōgun'', Ashikaga Yoshiharu, and his moth ...

alongside Motonobu. While there are various theories regarding the exact years of creation, in his early twenties, he created two works that are now considered National Treasures: and the paintings entitled at Jukō-in, a subtemple of the

Daitoku-ji is a Rinzai school Zen Buddhist temple in the Murasakino neighborhood of Kita-ku in the city of Kyoto Japan. Its ('' sangō'') is . The Daitoku-ji temple complex is one of the largest Zen temples in Kyoto, covering more than . In addition to ...

Temple. At a young age, he had acquired skills equivalent to those of Kano Motonobu. He painted the in 1565 at the request of Ashikaga Yoshiteru. Subsequently,

Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods. He was the and regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. He is sometimes referred as the "Demon Daimyō" and "Demo ...

acquired the artwork to demonstrate his control over Kyoto and the shogunate, and presented it to

Uesugi Kenshin , later known as , was a Japanese ''daimyō'' (magnate). He was born in Nagao clan, and after adoption into the Uesugi clan, ruled Echigo Province in the Sengoku period of Japan. He was one of the most powerful ''daimyō'' of the Sengoku period ...

. The is a depicting the scenery and customs of Kyoto, and among the designated National Treasures, there are only two: the version known as the Uesugi edition by Kano Eitoku and the Funaki edition by Iwasa Matabei. 洛中洛外図左.jpg, , Yonezawa City Uesugi Museum,

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 ...

. Kanō Eitoku - Rakuchū rakugai zu (Uesugi) - right screen.jpg, , Yonezawa City Uesugi Museum, National Treasure. Eitoku's patrons included Oda Nobunaga and

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: ...

. He was hired by Nobunaga at the age of 34. His standing screen, sliding door, wall, and ceiling paintings decorated Nobunaga's

Azuchi castle was one of the primary Castles in Japan, castles of Oda Nobunaga located in the Azuchi, Shiga, Azuchi neighborhood of the city of Ōmihachiman, Shiga Prefecture. The site of the castle was designated a Monuments of Japan, National Historic Site i ...

and Hideyoshi's residence in Kyoto and

Osaka Castle is a Japanese castle in Chūō-ku, Osaka, Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan. The castle is one of Japan's most famous landmarks and played a major role in the unification of Japan during the sixteenth century of the Azuchi–Momoyama period. Layout Th ...

. Contemporary accounts indicate that Eitoku was one of the most highly sought-after artists of his time, and received many wealthy and powerful patrons. Maintaining the preeminence of the Kanō School was not merely an artistic feat, but an organizational and political one also. Eitoku was able to secure a steady stream of commissions and an efficient workshop of students and assistants, and at one point successfully intercepted a warlord's commission of the rival

Hasegawa Tōhaku was a Japanese Painting, painter and founder of the Hasegawa school. He is considered one of the great painters of the Azuchi–Momoyama period (1573-1603), and he is best known for his folding screens, such as ''Shōrin-zu byōbu, Pine Trees ...

studio.

Style

His signal contribution to the Kanō repertoire was the so-called "monumental style" (''taiga''), characterized by bold, rapid brushwork, an emphasis on foreground, and motifs that are large relative to the pictorial space. The traditional account for this style, codified by Eitoku's great-grandson Einō (1631–97) in his ''History of Japanese Painting'' (''Honcho gashi''), is that it resulted partly from the exigencies of Eitoku's busy schedule, and that it embodied the martial and political bravura of the warlords, Nobunaga and Hideyoshi. Most of his works were destroyed in the turmoil 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 ...

. Symbolic representations, like pheasants, phoenixes and trees are often depicted in the works. The pheasant, for example is the national symbol of Japan, are mythological messengers of the sun goddess

Amaterasu , often called Amaterasu () for short, also known as and , is the goddess of the sun in Japanese mythology. Often considered the chief deity (''kami'') of the Shinto pantheon, she is also portrayed in Japan's earliest literary texts, the () ...

Works

File:Birds and flowers of the four seasons.jpg, ''Birds and flowers of the four seasons'', Jukō-in, a subtemple of the

Temple,

. File:Kano Eitoku 002.jpg,

Chinese guardian lions Chinese guardian lions, or imperial guardian lions, are a traditional Chinese architectural ornament. Typically made of stone, they are also known as stone lions or shishi (). They are known in colloquial English as lion dogs, foo dogs, or fu ...

(''Karajishi''), Museum of the Imperial Collections, National Treasures. File:Kano Eitoku 005.jpg, ''Flowers and Birds of the Four Seasons'', Hakutsuru Fine Art Museum. File:Kano Eitoku 006.jpg, ''Flowers and Birds of the Four Seasons'', Hakutsuru Fine Art Museum.

References

External links

* National Archives of Japan
''Ryukyu Chuzano ryoshisha tojogyoretsu,'' scroll illustrating procession of Ryukyu emissary to Edo, 1710 (''Hōei'' 7).Momoyama, Japanese Art in the Age of Grandeur
an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Kanō Eitoku
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 Kanō Eitoku (see index) {{DEFAULTSORT:Kano, Eitoku 1543 births 1590 deaths Artists from Kyoto 16th-century Japanese artists 16th-century Japanese painters Kanō school

Life and works

Style

Works

See also

References

External links