Past Exhibitions

Ink Painters from the Kantō Region I: Shōkei and the Odawara Kano
June 12, 2018 - July 8, 2018

During the Muromachi period (1392–1573), Kyoto produced numerous gifted professional painters including the monk-painters Josetsu and Shūbun and artists of the Kano school. But Kyoto was not the only center of artistic talent: The Kantō region in Eastern Japan was also home to some of the day's most important masters.
Best known is the monk-painter Shōkei, from the Zen temple Kenchō-ji in Kamakura. So well regarded was he that he was called to Kyoto to teach the shogun's curator Geiami (1431–1485). After returning to Kantō, Shōkei raised many successful students including Keison and Keimoku.
The Kano school also had a branch in Eastern Japan, sometimes known as the Odawara Kano. One of its artists (possibly Maejima Sōyū or Kano Gyokuraku) uses a seal reading Uto Gyoshi. He derived his excellent technique from the Kano school patriarch Kano Motonobu. And we must not forget the eclectic talent of Shikibu Terutada, who combined the styles of Shōkei and the Kano school.
This is the first of a two-part exhibition devoted to talented artists from Kantō. (The next installment will focus on the painter Sesson.)

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