Rinpa and Japan Art: Nakamura Hōchū
Lee Jay Walker
Modern Tokyo Times
The acclaimed Nakamura Hōchū was born in the eighteenth century and died in 1819. Sadly, many aspects of his life remain unknown – apart from connections to the Kansai region and his love of rinpa (rimpa) art. This notably concerns his deep admiration of Ogata Korin.
The Met Museum says, “…Although Rinpa traces its origins to Kōetsu and Sōtatsu, it derives its name (pa, or school, of [Ko-]rin) from Ogata Kōrin (1658–1716). Kōrin and his brother Kenzan (1663–1743) were members of a Kyoto family of textile merchants that serviced samurai, a few nobility, and city dwellers…”
Hōchū gained notoriety for his colored-painted picture book based on Korin. Accordingly, the Korin gafu “Album of Korin Pictures” continues to attract admiration today by Japanese art lovers.
The British Museum says, “…Best known for his colorful paintings of flowers and plants that make extensive use of tarashikomi. He also enjoyed haikai and painted haiga, and illustrations for haiku books, and sketch-like paintings of people and animals for haikai single-sheet prints, all in a light-hearted style…”
The RISD Museum says: “Usually, gafu (sketchbooks) were used to disseminate an artist’s style through his drawings. In the case of the Kōrin gafu, however, it seems that Hōchū derived his woodblock-printed designs from paintings attributed to the great master.
The stunning Korin Gafu book by Hōchū also highlights the innate beauty of rinpa.
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