Goshun

Japanese: 呉春 - ごしゅん

Year of death: 17th July 1811 (4th September 1811)
Year of birth: 1752.4.28 (2nd March 15th)
A painter from the mid-to-late Edo period. His real surname was Matsumura, his given name was Toyomasa, his pen name was Hakubo, he was commonly known as Bunzo, and his pen names were Gekkei, Katen, Inpaku, Magoseki, Shoutei, Hyakushodo, etc. He was later given the pen name Sankaken by Buson. He was born as the eldest son of Matsumura Masanori, a gold mint elder in Sakaimachi Shijo-shita, Kyoto. He initially took over the family business as a gold mint heir, but towards the end of the An'ei period, he left his position for some reason. While leading a wealthy life as a government official, he also mastered a variety of arts. He was extremely dexterous, and when counting large and small coins at the gold mint, he would toss the coins from his right hand to his left like a golden bridge, and in that split second, he would separate the counterfeit gold coins from the counterfeit gold coins. He first studied painting under Onishi Suigetsu, but after Suigetsu's death, he became Buson's pupil and studied haiku and painting. Influenced by Buson, he painted works such as "Arhat" and "Hanzan and Shide" (both in the collection of the Itsuo Museum of Art). While he was still an official at the Kinza, he bought the famous Shimabara courtesan Hinamichi and made her his wife. However, in 1781, his wife died in a shipwreck on her way home from her hometown, and in the same year, his father Masanori also died. As a result of a series of misfortunes, he moved to Ikeda in Settsu (Osaka Prefecture) to shave his head, and the following spring he changed his name to Goshun, after Ikeda's old name of Gofukuzato. During his eight years in Ikeda, he added a realistic touch to the Nanga style of painting in the style of Buson, and painted masterpieces such as "Willow Herons and Flock of Birds" (Important Cultural Property). He also left behind many works that are considered to be examples of painting inscriptions for haiku and haiku prose, such as "Deer at the Imperial Palace" (in the collection of the Itsuo Museum of Art). In 1783, after Buson died, Goshun painted "In Praise of Tou Yuanming" (owned by the Itsuo Museum of Art) for his surviving child, as well as illustrations for Buson's "New Flower Picking." He returned to Kyoto for good around 1789, and quickly became close to Maruyama Okyo. One theory is that after Buson's death, Goshun asked Okyo to become his student, but Okyo, knowing Goshun's talent as an artist, treated him as a friend. In 1787, he participated in the production of sliding screen paintings for Daijoji Temple in Tajima (Hyogo Prefecture) by Okyo's school, and painted "Country of Mountains with Dewy Tops." He eventually incorporated the Maruyama school's painting techniques into the Nanga style, establishing a new style of painting that was simple and elegant. His representative works include the sliding screen painting "Farming" at Daijoji Temple, the sliding screen painting "Landscape Painting" at Myoho-in White Shoin, and the "Plum Grove Screen" (owned by the Itsuo Museum of Art). As Goshun and many of his followers lived near Shijo, they were known as the Shijo School. One of his final works was the sliding door painting "Hakushuzu" (The Boat in the Fortress) at the Sanboin Temple of Daigoji Temple. He died at the age of 60 and was buried at Daidouji Temple in Shichijo, but was later reburied at Konpukuji Temple in the north of Kyoto. His half-brother Keibun studied under Goshun and took over the Shijo School, leading it to prosperity. <References> Yamakawa Takeshi, "Complete Collection of Japanese Art Paintings 22/Okyo and Goshun"

(Motoaki Kono)

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

Japanese:

没年：文化8.7.17(1811.9.4)
生年：宝暦2.3.15(1752.4.28)
江戸中・後期の画家。本姓は松村,名は豊昌,字は伯望,通称は文蔵,号は月渓,可転,允白,孫石,蕉雨亭,百昌堂など。のちに蕪村から三菓軒の号を譲られる。京都の堺町四条下ルの金座年寄役松村匡程の長男として生まれる。初め家業を継いで金座平役を勤めたが,安永末年ごろ,何らかの事情で職を退いた。富裕な役人生活を送りつつ,さまざまな芸事を身につけた。非常に手先が器用で,金座で大判小判を数える際,右手から左手へ,黄金の橋のように金貨を投げ上げ,その一瞬の間ににせ金をかたわらに選り分けたという。初め大西酔月に画を学んだが,酔月の死後,蕪村の門人となり俳諧と画を学んだ。蕪村の影響を受けて,「羅漢図」「寒山拾得図」(ともに逸翁美術館蔵)などを描く。まだ金座の役人であったころ,島原の名妓雛路を身請けし妻としていたが,天明1(1781)年その妻が里帰りの途中,海難事故で死亡,同年父匡程が亡くなるなど不幸が続いたため,剃髪するため摂津の池田(大阪府)に移り,翌年の春,池田の古名呉服里にちなみ呉春と改名した。池田時代の8年間に,蕪村風の南画様式に写実味を加え,「柳鷺群禽図屏風」(重要文化財)などの名品を描いた。また「内裏鹿図画賛」(逸翁美術館蔵)など,俳句俳文の画賛類にみるべきものを多く遺した。天明3年蕪村が死に,呉春はその遺児のために「陶淵明画賛」(逸翁美術館蔵)や,蕪村の『新花摘』に挿絵などを描いた。寛政1(1789)年ごろ完全に京都に戻り,急速に円山応挙に接近していく。一説に蕪村の死後,応挙に入門を請うたが,呉春の画才を知っていた応挙は友人として遇したといわれている。天明7年応挙一門による但馬(兵庫県)大乗寺の襖絵制作に参加し,「群山露頂図」を描く。やがて南画様式に円山派の画法を取り入れて,平明で瀟洒な画風の新様式を確立する。その代表作として,大乗寺襖絵「耕作図」,妙法院白書院襖絵「山水図」,「梅林図屏風」(逸翁美術館蔵)がある。呉春をはじめ,その一門が多く四条付近に住んでいたため,四条派と呼ばれた。最晩年の作品に醍醐寺三宝院襖絵「泊舟図」がある。60歳で没し,七条の大通寺に葬られたが,のち洛北の金福寺に改葬された。異母弟の景文が呉春から学び,四条派をひきついで隆盛に導いた。<参考文献>山川武『日本美術絵画全集22/応挙・呉春』

(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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