Unkokuha

Founded by Unkoku Togan in the Momoyama period, this school of painting boasted a tradition of 300 years that continued until the end of the Edo period. Togan restored Sesshu's Unkoku-an under the patronage of the Mori family, and the school was so named because it claimed to be a descendant of Sesshu for generations. After Togan's death, his eldest son Tooku served Fukushima Masanori, but died young, and his second son Toeki inherited the main line. After that, the school split into several families and served the Mori family as painters. As a regional school of painting in the western provinces, the school was active mainly in Hagi, and many of their posthumous works are still produced in the city today, but Toeki and his sons Toyo and Toji also made inroads in the central art world, leaving works at Daitokuji and Tofukuji temples, and there are records that they also participated in the production of sliding door paintings for the Imperial Palace. There are excellent landscape paintings and bird-and-flower paintings that faithfully maintain the style of Sesshu.

[Satoru Sakakibara]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

桃山時代の雲谷等顔(とうがん)を祖とし、江戸末期に至るまで300年の伝統を誇った画派。等顔が毛利(もうり)家の庇護(ひご)のもと雪舟(せっしゅう)の雲谷庵(あん)を再興、代々雪舟正系を標榜(ひょうぼう)したためこの名がある。等顔のあとは、長子等屋(とうおく)が福島正則(ふくしままさのり)に仕えたが早世し、次子の等益(とうえき)が本家を継承した。以後数家に分かれ、絵師として毛利家に仕えた。西国の地方画派として萩(はぎ)を中心に活躍し、現在も同市を中心に遺作が多いが、等益やその子等與(とうよ)、等爾(とうじ)などは中央画壇にも進出、大徳寺や東福寺に作品を残し、また禁裏の襖絵(ふすまえ)制作にも参加した記録がある。雪舟様(よう)を忠実に保守した山水図や花鳥図に優れた作がみられる。

［榊原　悟］

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例