Nouami

Japanese: 能阿弥 - のうあみ

Year of death: Bunmei 3 (1471)
Year of birth: 1397
He was a member of the Ashikaga Shogunate during the mid-Muromachi period. He served the Shogun closely and was involved in a wide range of arts, including painting, calligraphy and painting appraisal, mounting, interior decoration, renga, and incense-ceremony. His other name was Mano, and his pen name was Shuho. There is a theory that his father was Kinami or Maiami, but there is no definite proof. His first appearance in historical documents was in 1431, when he left his inscription as a mounter who worked on repairing the Rokudo-e painting at Shojuraigoji Temple. After that, there are many records of him as a renga poet, and there are almost no historical documents related to his painting. He was counted as one of the so-called Seven Sages by the renga poet Sogi, became the magistrate of the Kitano Renga Association, and his poems were included in "Bamboo Forest Collection" and "Shinsen [G7EDF Kunami/Tsukuba] Collection." He has a collection of his own handwritten poems, "Shu Hyaku Ku No Renga" (1469, Tenri Library). There are many ink paintings that are said to be by Noami, but there are only three that are certain to be his: "White-robed Kannon" (1468, private collection), "Flowers and Birds Screen" (1469, Idemitsu Museum of Arts), and "Lotus" (1471, Masaki Museum of Art). All of these works were created when Noami was in his 70s, and show that during this period Noami was deeply devoted to the style of Mukei, a painter from the late Southern Song and early Yuan dynasties. The "Flowers and Birds Screen," which was discovered very recently, is a rare example in which the artist, year of production, and recipient are all clearly identified. Noami is also well known as the compiler of the secret book of room decorations, "Kindai Kansochoki," and the "Gyobutsu Goga Mokuroku," a catalogue of the finest items in the Shogun's Chinese painting collection, but no handwritten copies of either of these remain. There are various copies of both books, and further bibliographical research is awaited. In later times, especially in the world of tea ceremony, Noami was deified, but there are many unknowns about his true character. He had two sons, one of whom was Shuken, who became a Gozan Zen monk, and the other was Geiami, who inherited the family business. The three generations up to Geiami's son Soami are known as the Sanami, and in the history of painting, the school of painting centered around these three generations is known as the Ami school. <References> Uratsuji Norimichi, "A Personal Study of Noami" (Bijutsu Kenkyu, no. 53), Yamashita Yuji, "An Introduction to Noami" (Kokuka, no. 1146)

(Yuji Yamashita)

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

Japanese:

没年：文明3(1471)
生年：応永4(1397)
室町中期の足利将軍家の同朋。将軍に近侍して絵画制作,書画の鑑定,表装,室内装飾,連歌,香道など幅広い技芸に携わった。別名真能,号は秀峰。父を金阿弥または毎阿弥とする説があるが確証はない。永享3(1431)年に聖衆来迎寺の六道絵の補修に当たった表具師として銘を残すのが史料のうえでの初出。その後は連歌師としての記録が多く,絵画制作に関する史料はほとんどない。連歌師宗祇によっていわゆる七賢のひとりに数えられ,北野連歌会所奉行となり,『竹林抄』『新撰【G7EDF玖波/つくば】集』にその句が収録される。自筆の私歌集として『集百句之連歌』(1469,天理図書館蔵)がある。能阿弥筆という伝承のある水墨画の作品は数多いが,確実な作品は「白衣観音図」(1468,個人蔵),「花鳥図屏風」(1469,出光美術館蔵),「蓮図」(1471,正木美術館蔵)の3点である。これらはいずれも70歳代の作品であり,この時期に能阿弥が南宋末・元初の画家牧谿の画風に深く傾倒していたことを示す。ごく近年発見された「花鳥図屏風」は作者,制作年,贈り先までが確実に判明する稀有な作例である。また能阿弥は座敷飾の秘伝書『君台観左右帳記』,将軍家の中国絵画コレクションの優品目録『御物御画目録』の編纂者として著名であるが,いずれも自筆本は現存しない。この両書については諸写本があり,今後の書誌学的研究が待たれる。後世,ことに茶道の世界では能阿弥の存在は神格化されたが,その実像については不明な点が多い。2子があり,1子は五山禅僧となった周健,いまひとりは家督を継いだ芸阿弥である。芸阿弥の子相阿弥までの3代を三阿弥と称し,絵画史のうえではこの3代を中心とする画派を阿弥派という。<参考文献>裏辻憲道「能阿弥私考」(『美術研究』53号),山下裕二「能阿弥序説」(『国華』1146号)

(山下裕二)

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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