Watanabe Shikou

A painter from the mid-Edo period. Commonly known as Kuma, he was from Kyoto. He served Konoe Iehiro from around 1708 (5th year of the Hoei era). He first studied the Kano school of painting, but was later influenced by Korin and became adept at his decorative style, skillfully using both styles interchangeably. As a successor to the Korin style, he is particularly noted for being the only painter to maintain the tradition of the late Rinpa school, which flourished mainly in Edo, in Kyoto. Many of his remaining works are ink paintings that display the skilled brushwork of the Kano style, and the sliding screen paintings at Kofuku-in Temple in Nara are also well known. On the other hand, representative works of the Rinpa school include the sliding screen paintings at Daikakuji Temple in Kyoto (such as Farming Scene on a Sugito Door and Rabbit Scene on a Shoji Waistboard), "Irises Screen" (Cleveland Museum of Art), and "Mount Yoshino Screen." He also had a background in Yamato-e painting, having copied the 20 volumes of "Kasuga Gongen Reigenki," and further influenced Maruyama Okyo with his sketches such as "Scroll of True Pictures of Birds."

[Yasushi Murashige]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

江戸中期の画家。通称求馬。京都の人。1708年（宝永5）ごろから近衛家煕(このえいえひろ)に仕える。絵は初め狩野(かのう)派を学び、のち光琳(こうりん)の影響を受けてその装飾画風をも得意とし、両者を巧みに使い分ける。ことに光琳様式の継承者としては、江戸を中心に栄えた後期琳派のなかで、ひとり京都でその伝統を保持した画家として注目される。遺品には狩野風の達者な筆遣いを示した水墨画が多く、また奈良・興福院(こんぶいん)の障壁画もよく知られる。一方、琳派風のものでは、京都・大覚寺(だいかくじ)の障壁画（耕作図杉戸絵や兎(うさぎ)図障子腰板絵(こしいたえ)など）、『燕子花図屏風(かきつばたずびょうぶ)』（クリーブランド美術館）、『吉野山図屏風』などが代表的である。また『春日権現霊験記(かすがごんげんれいげんき)』20巻を模写するなど、大和(やまと)絵の素養をもち、さらに『鳥類真写図巻』のような写生画を描いて、円山応挙(まるやまおうきょ)に影響を与えている。

［村重　寧］

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