Iwasa Matabei ( 岩 佐 又 兵衛 ; real name Araki Katsumuchi ; born January 1, 1578 ; d .. July 20, 1650 ) is a Japanese artist and graphic artist who lived and worked during the transition period in the art of this country (about 1600 years)
Content
- 1 Life and work
- 2 Gallery
- 3 Literature
- 4 Additions
Life and work
He was the son of a concubine with the sovereign prince Araki Murashige, the daimyo of Itami Castle in Setzu province. In the same year that the future artist was born, the ruler of Japan, Oda Nobunaga , ordered his father and his whole family to be killed, since he was involved in preparing the plot. Matabei managed to escape, and he was brought up in the family of his mother, having also received the name of his mother - Ivas. Matabei is the artist’s nickname, while his real name is Katsumuchi ( 勝 以 ). Already in his youth, Matabei shows the ability to draw. His teacher was Kano Nisen (1570-1616), whose family maintained relations with the princes of Araki. In 1615, Matabei left Kyoto, where he lived, and at the invitation of Prince Matsudaira Tadanao (1595-1650), who patronized him, he came to Fukui . The artist remains in Fukui and after Prince Tadanao fell out of favor with the authorities and was exiled to Bungo Province. This time was very fruitful for the work of Matabei, he developed his own special, characteristic style of drawing. In 1637, the artist was called up to the capital, in Edo , in order to fulfill orders for the Tokugawa shoguns . The artist makes a real journey, since he goes to Edo not on the direct road, but from Fukui through Kyoto, about which he then leaves notes. In Edo, Matabei creates a series of paintings in a series of "36 Immortals" for the Toshogu Shrine ( 東 照 宮 ) in the capital, and also paints a number of palace rooms. He was also the author of many painted screens and similar works of applied art.
In the Edo era, Matabei was considered the founder of the Ukiyo-e art style and was often called Ukiyo-e-Matabei. In the first half of the twentieth century, however, this opinion was revised, but later scientists and art historians returned to the master the recognition of his contribution to the development of this style in Japanese art. Characteristic of Matabei is his extraordinary sense of combining the form and image of the depicted object, giving it special expressiveness. Persons created by him show the viewer in the usual way tinted round or elongated faces.
The artist in the studio worked numerous students and apprentices, which allowed him to be very productive. The years of the period from the mid-1620s to the mid-1640s, which were crucial in the development of Japanese painting, were especially fruitful for him. Thus, Matabei's painting can be seen as something like a transitional stage, the former style of art of the Momoyama era and the new, the Edo era. In addition to the already mentioned “36 Immortals”, the most valuable works left by Matabei include the paintings on the scrolls of Kakinomoto no Hitaromo and Kino no Tsurayuki , stored in the Atami Art Museum and one of the National Treasures of Japan , and the painted screen “Waking Ladies, admiring chrysanthemums ”from the Yamatane Art Museum.
Gallery
Screen panel on the left
Screen panel on the right
Waking up ladies admiring chrysanthemums
From “Fourteen Figures on Seven Sheets”
Scenes from Kyoto and its environs (1616).
Literature
- Théo Lésoualc'h: Die Japanische Malerei. 25. Band der Reihe Weltgeschichte der Malerei. Editions Rencontre, Lausanne 1968.