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Sogaha@‘]‰δ”h
KEY WORD :@art history / paintings
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The Soga school. A group of Japanese painters active from the 15c through the 18c. Although later Soga artists claimed to be direct descendents of the founders of the lineage, evidence verifying such claims is lacking. Numerous early documents refer to Soga painters, but the records are often contradictory. Recent scholarship tends to support to early accounts that Ri Shuubun —›G•Ά (also known as Ri Hidebumi, K: Yi Su-min), an emigrant from Korea, founded the Soga school. In the inscription on his album of ten monochrome ink paintings of bamboo Bokuchiku gasatsu –n’|‰ζϋ (Matsudaira Ό•½ Collection, Tokyo), Ri Shuubun relates that he either came to Japan or painted the album in 1424. According to certain records, Ri Shuubun was the father of Soga Jasoku ‘]‰δŽΦ‘« (also read Dasoku), commonly identified as the preeminent artist of the early Soga school. It is now apparent, however, that a number of painters used the name Jasoku, although their identities have not been clearly established. Among the Soga painters who used the name Jasoku are: Bokkei –nŒk (?-1473), Soujou @δ (?-pre 1512), Shousen Πε (act. ca. 1523), Souyo @—_ (?-post 1562) and Shoushou ΠΛ (dates unkown), perhaps in that order of succession and perhaps related as father and son, respectively. These artists were patronized by the Asakura ’©‘q clan at Ichijoudani ˆκζ’J in Echizen ‰z‘O, near the present-day city of Fukui. Asakura Toshikage ’©‘q•qŒi (1428-81), leader of the clan during its most prosperous years, was closely affiliated with the renowned monk of Daitokuji ‘ε“ΏŽ› in Kyoto, *Ikkyuu ˆκ‹x (1394-1481). Numerous portraits *chinsou ’Έ‘Š of Ikkyuu were painted by the early Soga artists. Current scholarship credits Soujou with painting the screens of Four Seasons Landscape and Landscapes with Flowers and Birds at the Shinjuan ^ŽμˆΑ, a subtemple of Daitokuji. Paintings attributed to Bokkei, Soujou, Shousen and Souyo include a number of landscapes, flower and bird paintings, and figural subjects. No works by Shoushou are known to survive. Soga Chokuan ‘]‰δ’ΌˆΑ (act. ca. 1596-1615), perhaps Shoushou's son or student, is said to have been active in the thriving port city of Sakai δ (present day Osaka), as was Nichokuan “ρ’ΌˆΑ (act. ca. 1625-60), his son. A document written by Nichokuan in 1656, which accompanies a set of three hanging scrolls depicting hawks, preserved at Houryuuji –@—²Ž›, includes a lineage chart that ties Chokuan to Jasoku. In this lineage chart, Nichokuan claimed to be the sixth generation descendent of Jasoku. It remains uncertain whether Nichokuan was justified in his claim to Soga lineage or whether he invented a lineage to bolster his reputation. According to documentary sources, Chokuan and Nichokuan painted screens for several temples in the Kansai ŠΦΌ region, the largest number of which were preserved at Mt. Kouya ‚–μ. There are also a number of surviving folding screens *byoubu › •— and hanging scrolls *kakemono Š|•¨ by the two artists that feature dynamically posed hawks and eagles, rendered with vigorous brushwork, see *shichou-zu ˜h’Ή}. Nichokuan was apparently succeeded by a number of painters, including Sanchokuan ŽO’ΌˆΑ and Tamura Chokuou “c‘Ί’Ό‰₯. The most celebrated of the later artists who claimed descent from Jasoku was Soga Shouhaku ‘]‰δεJ”’ (1730-81). Shouhaku was an innovative, prolific painter of highly individualistic temperament. Although he studied with Takada Keiho ‚“cŒh•γ (1674-1755), Shouhaku aligned himself with the Soga tradition, claiming to be tenth in line from Jasoku. His brushwork is bolder and more expressive than was that of the earlier Soga painters.
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