Nagasawa Rosetsu

Japanese: 長沢蘆雪 - ながさわ・ろせつ

Year of death: June 8, 1799 (July 10, 1799)
Year of birth: 1754
A painter from the mid-Edo period. His given name was Masakatsu, Uo, his pen names were Hyoukei, Hikisuzome, and his other names were Ujo and Ushu Gyoja. He was born to Uesugi Kazuzaemon, a low-ranking samurai from the Yodo domain in Yamashiro (Kyoto Prefecture), and later inherited the Nagasawa family business. He spent his childhood in Yodo, but is said to have moved to Kyoto at an early age to become a pupil of Maruyama Okyo, and his name is already listed in the painter section of the 1782 edition of Heian Jinbutsu-shi. Many of his works from this time were relatively tame, as can be seen in his 1778 painting of famous places in Higashiyama (private collection), but he had already fully mastered the techniques of the Maruyama school. Eventually, he began to develop his own unique personality that broke away from the framework of Okyo's painting style. In 1786, Gukai, a monk at Muryoji Temple in Kushimoto, southern Kii, asked Okyo to create sliding door paintings for the Tofukuji Temple-affiliated temples in southern Kii, but instead of Okyo, Rosetsu went to Nanki from the end of that year until the following year. He created sliding door paintings such as "Tiger" and "Chinese Child Playing the Koto and Go, Calligraphy and Painting" at Muryoji Temple, "Morning Glories" at Sodo-ji Temple, and "Flowers, Birds, Dogs and a Flock of Sparrows" at Joju-ji Temple, and was particularly known for his skillful brushwork and original ideas in his depictions of birds and animals. Rosetsu thus became skilled at sliding door paintings, and left behind many excellent works such as "Dragon" at Saiko-ji Temple in Matsue, and "Orchid Pavilion, Water and Flowers and Birds" at Shoshu-ji Temple in Toyohashi, and in 1790 he participated in the production of sliding door paintings for the Imperial Palace together with Okyo. Rosetsu, who was known for his brilliant brushwork and eye-opening compositions, began to show inner depth in his later years with works such as "A Flock of Crows on Iwanami" at Yakushi-ji Temple in Nara, painted around the year 622, and "A Flock of Monkeys" at Daijo-ji Temple in the year 623. This inner transformation bore fruit in the form of masterpieces such as "Yamauba" (Itsukushima Shrine Collection) and "Moonlit Landscape" (Egawa Museum of Art Collection). There are many anecdotes about him due to his unrestrained personality. For example, it is said that he was excommunicated for innocently bringing in Okyo's own painting model and having his teacher revise it. It is also said that he was poisoned to death out of jealousy. He died at the age of 46 and was buried at Eko-in Temple in Kyoto. <References> Tsuji Tsuneo, "The Genealogy of Strange Ideas," Miyajima Shinichi, "Nagasawa Rosetsu" (Shibundo "Japanese Art" No. 219)

(Motoaki Kono)

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

Japanese:

没年：寛政11.6.8(1799.7.10)
生年：宝暦4(1754)
江戸中期の画家。名は政勝,魚,字は氷計,引裾,別号は于緝,于洲漁者。山城(京都府)淀藩の下級武士上杉和左衛門を父として生まれ,のちに長沢家を継いだ。少年期を淀で過ごしたが,早くに京都に出て円山応挙に入門したと伝えられ,天明2(1782)年版『平安人物志』の画家部に既に名が載っている。このころの作品は安永7(1778)年の「東山名所図」(個人蔵)などにみるように割合おとなしいものが多かったが,すでに円山派の技法を完全に自分のものとしている。やがて,応挙画風の枠を破る独自の個性を開花させていく。天明6年南紀串本の無量寺の僧愚海が,応挙に南紀の東福寺系諸寺の襖絵制作を依頼してきたが,応挙に代わり,蘆雪が同年暮れから翌7年にかけ南紀に下ることになった。無量寺に「虎図」「唐子琴棋書画図」,草堂寺に「朝顔図」,成就寺に「花鳥群狗図」「群雀図」などの襖絵を制作,特に巧みな筆さばきと奇抜な構想をもちいて描いた鳥獣に特色を発揮した。こうして,蘆雪は障壁画を得意とするようになり,松江西光寺の「竜図」,豊橋正宗寺の「蘭亭曲水図」「花鳥図」など,多くの優作を遺し,寛政2(1790)年には応挙と共に御所の障壁画制作に参加した。才気あふれる筆さばきと人の目を驚かす構図を駆使して描いてきた蘆雪も,同5年ごろの奈良薬師寺「岩浪群烏図」,7年の大乗寺「群猿図」などで,晩年の内面的深化を示すようになった。その内面の変化は傑作「山姥図額」(厳島神社蔵),「月夜山水図」(穎川美術館蔵)となって実を結んだ。奔放な性格ゆえに様々な逸話が残っている。例えば,応挙自身の絵手本を何くわぬ顔で持参して,師に手直しさせた件で破門されたと伝えられる。また,ねたみを受けて,毒殺されたともいう。46歳で没し,京都の回向院に葬られた。<参考文献>辻惟雄『奇想の系譜』,宮島新一「長沢蘆雪」(至文堂『日本の美術』219号)

(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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