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An example in the Maruyama-Shijo style (left):
Watanabe NANGAKU (1767–1813) |
Maruyama-Shijo school, which developed in Kyoto in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, owes its name to the school’s founders: Maruyama Okyo (1733-1795) and Matsumura Goshun (1752-1811). Goshun’s studio was on Shijo (Fourth Street), a central location in downtown Kyoto. Depictions of landscapes, flowers, birds, and figures by artists of the school are characterized by a greater naturalism than had been seen in earlier Japanese paintings.
Maruyama Okyo was trained in the conservative, almost three-century-old Kano school patronized by the shogunate and daimyo class. He initially favored strong, stylized strokes of ink. Later, under Western influence, he developed a more realistic approach by working from carefully observed preliminary sketches that employed both outlining brushstrokes and wash.
Matsumura Goshun trained under the Nanga artist Yosa Buson (1716-1783). Although he began in the late 1780s by espousing his teacher’s point of view, in his mature work he adopted Okyo’s realistic style. Goshun’s imagery, however, retained a more subtle feeling than Okyo, echoing his Nanga poetic sensibility.
The Maruyama-Shijo school numbered many other outstanding artists, including Matsumura Keibun (1779-1843), Shiokawa Bunrin (1808-1877), Watanabe Nangaku (1767-1813), Komai Genki (1747-1797), Yamaguchi Soken (1759-1818), and Yoshimura Kokei (1769-1836).
