Mori Sosen - Mori Sosen

A painter from the late Edo period. His father was a painter named Tachibana Jokansai. His given name was Shuzo and his pen name was Shuga. He was known by the pen names Sosen, Jokansai, and Reimeian. He began his painting career by learning from his elder brother Yoshin and his second brother Shuho, as well as Yamamoto Joshunsai of the Kano school. However, he was influenced by Maruyama Okyo and established his own realistic style of painting in his late 30s. He became a master of sarugaki, and was active mainly in Osaka, where he formed a school of his own. It is believed that he changed his pen name from Sosen to Sosen after turning 60 in 1807 (Bunka 4). While Okyo created a unique dreamlike world by depicting the motifs of his paintings in a well-balanced, realistic manner and capturing the background as a dense space, Sosen's style, which depicts the humorous poses of anthropomorphized monkeys and deer in unparalleled, detailed and precise drawings, is characterized by a modern fusion of elegance and technique. Representative works include "Snowy Birds and Animals" (Kyoto, Kosei-in Temple) and "Deer Playing in Akiyama" (Tokyo National Museum). Mori Tetsuzan and Mori Kansai are among the Mori school painters who inherited and developed Sosen's style.

[Reiko Tamamushi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

江戸後期の画家。父は橘如閑斎(たちばなじょかんさい)と名のる画家。名は守象、字(あざな)は叔牙。狙仙、如寒斎、霊明庵と号す。画(え)を初め長兄の陽信、次兄の周峰と狩野(かのう)派の山本如春斎に学んだが、円山応挙(まるやまおうきょ)の影響を受け、30代の後期に独自の写生的画風を確立し、猿書(さるがき)の名手として大坂を中心に活躍し、一派をなした。1807年（文化4）還暦を迎えてのち、号を祖仙から狙仙に改めたものと考えられる。応挙が絵のモチーフを均整のとれた写生的表現によって描くとともに、その背景を密度のある空間としてとらえることにより、独特の夢幻的絵画世界を構成したのに対し、擬人化した猿や鹿(しか)のユーモラスな姿態を、他の追随を許さない精細克明な毛描(けがき)のうちに表現する狙仙の画風は、洒脱(しゃだつ)性と技巧性の近代的な融合という点に大きな特色がある。代表作品には『雪中獣禽図襖(せっちゅうじゅうきんずふすま)』（京都・広誠院）、『秋山遊鹿(ゆうか)図』（東京国立博物館）などがある。なお狙仙の画風を継承展開した森派の画家として、森徹山(てつざん)、森寛斎(かんさい)があげられる。

［玉蟲玲子］

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