Kano Sansetsu

Japanese: 狩野山雪 - かのう・さんせつ

Year of death: 12 March 1651 (1651.5.1)
Year of birth: Tensho 17 (1589)
A painter of the Momoyama and early Edo periods. He is said to have been born in 1590. His given name was Mitsuie, and other names included Jatakunen, Togenshi, and Shohakusanjin. He was commonly known as Heishiro and Nuidonosuke. He was born in Hizen (Nagasaki prefecture) and moved with his family to Osaka. When he was 16, his father, Senga Dogen, died, and he became a pupil of Kano Sanraku, who lived in Osaka under the care of his uncle. Eventually, his teacher saw his talent and personality, and he married Sanraku's daughter Take, taking the name Kano and succeeding him. Having honed his skills under Sanraku's guidance, Sansetsu participated in his foster father's production of sliding screen paintings, and was credited with producing the "Taimadera Engi Emaki" (Noshi family collection) around 1629. The sliding screen paintings of Tenkyu-in Temple at Myoshin-ji Temple, built in the same year, were produced jointly with Sanraku, but it is highly likely that the elderly Sanraku, who was in his 70s, became his guardian and Sansetsu, who was 43 years old, took the lead. Tenkyu-in Temple was built by Tenkyu-in, the third daughter of Ikeda Nobuteru, and graceful and delicate gold and silver paintings were placed on the front. With the cooperation of Sanraku, Sansetsu produced "Flowers on a Fence," "Tiger on Bamboo," "Flowers and Birds," and other works, perfecting a unique sliding screen painting style that combines intellectual composition with fresh design. In the same year, at the request of Hayashi Razan, he produced the "Portrait of the Great Confucian Scholar of the Rekisho" for the Senior Hall of the Hayashi Clan's Learning Center, and in the 14th year, he painted the "Ema with a Tied Horse" for Kiyomizu-dera Temple in Kyoto. In 1647, at the order of the Kujo family, he completed two paintings from the "Thirty-three Kannon Statues," said to have been painted by Myocho, housed at Tofuku-ji Temple, and was awarded the title of Hokkyo for his work. In the same year, he created the painting of a dragon and clouds on the ceiling of the Shariden Hall of Sennyuji Temple. Other works that show a unique sense of form include "Hanshan and Shide" and "Song of Everlasting Regret Scroll." Among them, the "Snowy Shore Waterfowl Screen" (Kawamoto Family Collection) is not only a masterpiece by Sansetsu, but also one of the great works of early modern painting. Sansetsu was also a scholarly man who loved history and Confucianism, and is said to have written works such as "Zueho Kanmeiroku," "Genji Monogatari Zugaki," "Wuling Liji," and "Gadan." He thought about compiling biographies of Japanese painters, and wrote a draft, but it was not published during his lifetime. His son, Kano Eino, completed it and published it as "Honcho Gashi." It seems that he was imprisoned for some crime in his later years, and there remains a letter he wrote to Eino from prison. He died at the age of 63 and was buried at Sennyuji Temple in Kyoto. <References> Tsuguyoshi Doi, "Complete Collection of Japanese Art Paintings 12/Kano Sanraku and Sansetsu", Tsuji Tsuneo, "The Genealogy of Fantasies", Yamato Bunkakan, "Kano Sansetsu Exhibition/Catalogue"

(Motoaki Kono)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：慶安4.3.12(1651.5.1)
生年：天正17(1589)
桃山・江戸初期の画家。天正18(1590)年生まれとも。名は光家,別号は蛇足軒,桃源子,松柏山人など。通称は平四郎,縫殿助。肥前(長崎県)に生まれ,一家で大坂に移る。16歳のとき父千賀道元が死に,その後叔父の世話で大坂に住んでいた狩野山楽の門人となる。やがて師にその画才と人柄を見こまれ,山楽の娘竹の婿となり,狩野氏を名乗り跡を継いだ。山楽の指導のもと研鑽を積んだ山雪は,養父の障壁画制作に参加,寛永6(1629)年ごろの「当麻寺縁起絵巻」(熨斗家蔵)の制作に山楽と共に名を連ねている。同8年に建てられた妙心寺天球院の障壁画は,山楽との共同制作であるが,70歳代であった高齢の山楽は後見となり,43歳の山雪が中心となった可能性が高い。天球院は池田信輝の3女天球院が建てたということもあり,優美にして繊細な金碧画が正面にすえられた。山雪は山楽の協力のもとに「籬に草花図」「竹に虎図」「花鳥図」などを制作,知的構成と新鮮な意匠性が結合する独自の障壁画様式を完成させた。同9年林羅山の依頼で,林氏学問所先聖殿のために「歴聖大儒像」を制作,同14年京都清水寺の「繋馬図絵馬」を描く。正保4(1647)年九条家の命により東福寺蔵の伝明兆筆「三十三観音像」の中の2幅を補作して,その功により法橋に叙せられる。同年泉涌寺舎利殿の天井画雲竜図を制作。その他独特の形態感覚を示す「寒山拾得図」や「長恨歌図巻」があるが,中でも「雪汀水禽図屏風」(河本家蔵)は山雪の傑作であるとともに,近世絵画の名作のひとつである。山雪は他方,歴史や儒学を好む学究肌の人で,『図絵宝鑑名録』『源氏物語図画記』『武陵離記』『画談』などの著述があったという。わが国の画家の伝記をまとめることを思いたち,草稿を書いたが生前には上梓されず,子の狩野永納がこれを完成して『本朝画史』として刊行した。晩年何らかの罪で獄につながれたらしく,獄中から永納にあてた手紙が残っている。63歳で没し,京都の泉涌寺に葬られた。<参考文献>土居次義『日本美術絵画全集12/狩野山楽・山雪』,辻惟雄『奇想の系譜』,大和文華館『狩野山雪展/図録』

(河野元昭)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

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