Kanō Tan'yū

Kano Tanyu was born in Kyoto (the ancient capital city), where he became one of the most versatile and prolific artists of the family of Japanese painters known as the Kano school. Founded in the 15th-century, the Kano school dominated Japanese painting styles until the mid-19th century. While most Japanese schools specialized in one style, medium, or painting format (such as hanging scrolls, folding screens, or handscrolls), Kano painters worked in a variety of artistic modes. Some pursued a Japanese manner called yamato-e (which translates simply as “Japanese-style painting”), favoring local subjects and the decorative use of rich colors and backgrounds covered with gold leaf or silver pigment. The school is equally renowned for its monochrome landscapes and figure paintings in black ink, with styles and themes inspired by Chinese amateur-scholar painting traditions as well as Zen Buddhist scrolls. Accordingly, Tanyu commanded a variety of styles, painting techniques, and themes. A child prodigy, as a mere fifteen-year-old Tanyu was appointed as the official painter to the court of the shogun, the military ruler of Japan. He also received highly prestigious painting commissions for the imperial palace in Kyoto.