Urakami Gyokudo

Japanese: 浦上玉堂 - うらかみ・ぎょくどう

Year of death: 4th September 1820 (10th October 1820)
Year of birth: Enkyo 2 (1745)
A painter of the Southern style in the late Edo period. His surname was Ki, his given name was Takasuke, his pen name was Kimisuke, and his common name was Hyoemon. At the age of 35, he obtained a seven-stringed koto from China bearing the inscription "Gyokudō Seiyun" and took the name Gyokudō Kinshi. He also had other titles such as Hakubyoukinshi. He was born into a family of samurai of the Kamogata domain, a branch of the Okayama domain in Bizen, and inherited the family headship at the age of seven. In his youth, he admired and served as an aide to the domain's lord, Ikeda Masaka, who was one year older than him, until Masaka died at the age of 25. He later rose to the rank of ōmetsuke, but at the age of 43, he was demoted to the position of ōtoritsugi ōshoshoju (a page who is a senior to the shogun). During this time, while stationed in Edo, he studied koto with Taki Aikei, and also had contact with literati and artists such as Shiba Kokan, Haruki Nanko, and Kairyō who visited his home, and published "Gyokudō Kinpu." However, it seems that he gradually came to be seen by his peers as someone who pursued his own interests. In 1794, at the age of 50, he suddenly filed a notice of defection from his domain while traveling at Kinosaki Onsen with his two children, Shunkin and Shukin, and thereafter roamed from place to place with his beloved koto, embarking on a free life centered on painting, calligraphy and the koto, and living in his later years in Kyoto. The reason for his defection is not known, but it is said that it was to avoid the consequences of the Kansei ban on heretical learning, or that it was because of his daughter's adultery. However, the Okayama domain was the home of Yangmingism, and Gyokudō was surrounded by followers of Yangmingism such as Kawamoto Kazua and Rikken, and it is known that Gyokudō himself was interested in Yangmingism, and that he lost his wife at the age of 48. Gyokudō's paintings can be said to be self-taught, and he had been painting before he defected from the domain, but most of his works were created when he was in his 60s or 70s. His works include those filled with deep melancholy, such as "Shinonome Sifting Snow" (Kawabata Yasunari Memorial Museum) and "Enkacho" (Umezawa Memorial Museum), those with a sense of calm and clarity, such as "Mountain Red Osen" and "Takashita Suka" (both private collections), and works with movement, such as "Kokin Yojicho" (private collection). All of his works focus solely on landscapes, and his keen, sensitive brushwork expresses a beautiful world full of poetry. His eldest son, Shunkin, was also a highly acclaimed artist who specialized in landscapes, flowers, and birds. <References> Yata Michio, "(Manuscript) Study of Urakami Gyokudō," Mori Senzō, "Study of the Life of Urakami Gyokudō" (Mori Senzō Collected Works, Volume 3), and "Urakami Gyokudō Art Collection."

(Hoshino Suzu)

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

Japanese:

没年：文政3.9.4(1820.10.10)
生年：延享2(1745)
江戸後期の南画家。姓を紀,名は孝弼,字は君輔,通称を兵右衛門といった。35歳のとき「玉堂清韻」の銘のある中国伝来の七弦琴を得てから,玉堂琴士と号した。別に白髯琴士などの号がある。備前岡山藩の支藩鴨方藩士の家に生まれ,7歳で家督を嗣ぐ。青年のころには1歳年上の藩主池田政香を敬慕し,その側近として仕えたが,政香は25歳で没した。その後大目付にまで進んだが,43歳のときには大取次御小姓支配役へと左遷されている。この間,江戸詰の折には,多紀藍渓について琴を学び,また自宅を訪れた司馬江漢や春木南湖,海量ら文人墨客と交流,『玉堂琴譜』を出版するなどしていたが,同輩からは次第に好事に走る者とみなされるようになっていったらしい。寛政6(1794)年50歳のとき春琴,秋琴の2子をつれて旅先の城崎温泉から突然脱藩届けを出し,以後,愛用の琴を携えて各地を放浪,書画と琴を中心とする自由な生活に入り,晩年は京都に住した。脱藩については,寛政異学の禁の身におよぶのを避けたためとも,娘之の不義事件のためともいわれるが判明していない。ただし,岡山藩は陽明学の本拠地であり,玉堂の周辺には,河本一阿,立軒などの陽明学の徒があり,玉堂自身も陽明学に関心を持っていたこと,また,48歳のときに妻を亡くしたことがわかっている。玉堂の画は独学といってよいもので,脱藩以前から絵を描いていたが,そのほとんどは60,70歳代の制作にかかる。「東雲篩雪図」(川端康成記念館蔵),「煙霞帖」(梅沢記念館蔵)のように,深い憂愁感にみちたもの,また「山紅於染図」「高下数家図」(いずれも個人蔵)のように落ち着いた澄明感のあるもの,「鼓琴余事帖」(個人蔵)のような動きのある作品など,いずれも山水だけを対象にして,鋭い神経をはりめぐらし,擦り込むような筆致は,詩情溢れる美しい世界を表出している。長男の春琴も山水花鳥画を得意として高い評価を得ていた画家である。<参考文献>矢田三千男『(稿本)浦上玉堂の研究』,森銑三「浦上玉堂伝の研究」(『森銑三著作集』3巻),『浦上玉堂画譜』

(星野鈴)

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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