Tosa Mitsunobu

Japanese: 土佐光信 - とさ・みつのぶ

Years of birth: Years of birth and death unknown. A representative artist of the Tosa school in the mid- to late Muromachi period. He served as Ukon no Shogen, Sakon no Shogen, Osakabu Shoyu, and Osakabu Daifu. He received the highest rank of Jushi no Ge as an artist, and owned five estates. The Tosa family tree states that he died in 1525 at the age of 92, but he disappears from the records in 1525, and since his successor, Mitsushige, succeeded him at the same time, it is estimated that he died around this time. In the midst of the Onin War, in 1469, he became the head of the Imperial Court Painting Office, a position he monopolized for half a century. He also played the role of official artist for the Muromachi shogunate, and was involved in a wide range of painting related to temples, shrines, and local daimyo. Many of his works remain, including full-scale illustrated scrolls such as "Tsukimine-dera Engi" (1495, in the collection of the Freer Art Museum), "Kitano Tenjin Engi" (1503) of Kitano Tenmangu Shrine, and "Kiyomizu-dera Engi" (1517, in the collection of the Tokyo National Museum), as well as small-scale examples such as "Jizodo Zoushi" (private collection) and "Suzuriha Zoushi" (1495, private collection). His style of painting introduced ink painting techniques, completely changing the previous Yamato painting style of the Tosa school. Generally, the figures are mundane, the lines are powerful but somewhat rough, and the colors are thin and subdued, exuding a sense of elegance and vague loneliness. In portraits, he showed outstanding skill in capturing the natural expressions of his subjects in their everyday lives, and his works include "Portrait of Sanjonishi Sanetaka" (1501, private collection), "Portrait of Momoi Naoaki" (Tokyo National Museum), and "Portrait of Emperor Go-En'yu" (1492, Unryu-in Temple). He also produced a wide range of Buddhist paintings related to the Imperial Court, including "Ten Kings" (1389, Jofuku-ji Temple, Kyoto), furniture designs, fan paintings, and booklet cover art, but he is also thought to have been talented in large-scale folding screens, and one of his works is said to be the "Pine Tree Screen" (Tokyo National Museum). Records show that he also contributed to the creation of genre painting designs, such as painting a new type of folding screen of famous places in Kyoto (1506). In addition to painting, he interacted with cultural figures of the time, including Sanjonishi Sanetaka, Kanroji Chikanaga, and Nakamikado Nobutane, and in his later years he often appeared at linked poetry gatherings, serving as their leader. <References> Shinichi Tani, "Art History of the Muromachi Period," Tomoyuki Yoshida, "Tosa Mitsunobu" (Shueisha, "Complete Collection of Japanese Art Paintings" 5), Shinichi Miyajima, "Tosa Mitsunobu and the Genealogy of the Tosa School"

(Masahiko Aizawa)

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

Japanese:

生年：生没年不詳
室町中・後期の土佐派の代表的な絵師。右近将監,左近将監,刑部少輔,刑部大輔を歴任。絵師として最高の従四位下を受け,所領は5カ所におよんだ。土佐家系図は大永5(1525)年92歳で没したとするが,大永1年を期に記録から消え,同時に次代の光茂がそのあとを継いでいることから没年もこのころと推定される。応仁の乱のさなか文明1(1469)年に宮廷絵所預(長官)となり半世紀にわたりこれを独占した。さらに室町幕府の御抱絵師的な役割も果たしており,寺社,地方大名などにも関連した広範な画事に従事した。現存作も多く,絵巻作品には「槻峯寺縁起」(1495,フーリア美術館蔵),北野天満宮「北野天神縁起」(1503),「清水寺縁起」(1517,東京国立博物館蔵)などの本格的なものから,「地蔵堂草子」(個人蔵),「硯破草子」(1495,個人蔵)などの小絵の作例がある。画風は水墨画法を導入して,これまでの土佐派のやまと絵画風を一変させた。総じて人物は平俗で,描線は筆勢があるがやや荒削り,彩色は薄塗りで渋い色調が目立ち,瀟洒で漠とした寂寥感がある。肖像画では像主の日常の自然な面持ちをとらえることに卓越した技量を示し,「三条西実隆像」(1501,個人蔵),「桃井直詮像」(東京国立博物館蔵),「後円融天皇像」(1492,雲竜院蔵)などがある。その他,宮中関係の仏画として「十王図」(1389,京都浄福寺蔵)をはじめ調度品図様,扇面,冊子本表紙絵など制作は多岐にわたるが,大画面の屏風作品にも才腕を振るったと推定され,「松図屏風」(東京国立博物館蔵)などがその作と伝承されている。記録では新種の京中名所の屏風を描く(1506)など風俗画の図様創案の方面にも功績があった。画事のみではなく,三条西実隆をはじめ,甘露寺親長,中御門宣胤ら当時の文化人たちと交わり,晩年は連歌会にしばしば顔をみせ頭役なども務めている。<参考文献>谷信一『室町時代美術史論』,吉田友之「土佐光信」(集英社『日本美術絵画全集』5),宮島新一『土佐光信と土佐派の系譜』

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