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Japan After 1333 CE
The Edo Period
Art History Textbooks Boundless Art History Japan After 1333 CE The Edo Period
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Concept Version 11
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Kano School Painting in the Edo Period

The Kanō school with its naturalistic style was the dominant style of the Edo period (1603 - 1868).

Learning Objective

  • Describe the defining characteristics of the Kano school during the Edo Period, and distinguish it from literati painting


Key Points

    • The Kanō school began by reflecting a renewed influence by Chinese painting, and it continued to produce monochrome brush paintings in the Chinese style over the years. 
    • However, the school simultaneously developed a brightly colored and firmly outlined style for large panels, which reflected distinctively Japanese traditions. 
    • The school was supported by the Shogunate, effectively representing an official style of art; under the Edo period in which art and culture were strictly regulated, this essentially monopolized the field of painting. 
    • Kanō school artists worked mainly for the nobility, shoguns, and emperors, covering a wide range of styles, subjects, and formats.
    • While initially innovative, from the 17th century onward, the artists of the school became increasingly conservative and academic in their approach.

Terms

  • literati

    Well-educated, literary people; intellectuals who are interested in literature.

  • Kanō school

    One of the most famous schools of Japanese painting, and the dominant style of painting from the late 15th century until 1868, when the Meiji period began.


Full Text

Overview: The Kanō School

The Kanō school (狩) was the dominant style of painting during the Edo period. The Kanō family itself produced a series of major artists over several generations, and a large number of unrelated artists trained in workshops of the school. Some artists married into the family and changed their names, while others were adopted, creating a family known for its artistic innovations.

The Style of the School

The school began by reflecting a renewed influence by Chinese painting, and it continued to produce monochrome brush paintings in the Chinese style over the years. However, it simultaneously developed a brightly colored and firmly outlined style for large panels, which reflected distinctively Japanese traditions. Kanō Motonobu, a Japanese painter and member of the Kano School, is particularly known for expanding the school's repertoire through his bold artistic techniques and patronage. Many of the works during this period combined the forceful quality of work from the earlier Momoyama period with the tranquil depiction of nature and more refined use of color typical of the current Edo period. 

The school was supported by the Shogunate, effectively representing an official style of art; under the Edo period in which art and culture were strictly regulated, this essentially monopolized the field of painting. The Kanō school drew on the Chinese tradition of literati painting by scholar-bureaucrats, but the Kanō painters were firmly professional artists: they were very generously paid if successful and received formal workshop training in the family workshop (similar to European painters of the Renaissance or Baroque period). Kanō painters worked primarily for the nobility, shoguns, and emperors, covering a wide range of styles, subjects, and formats. While initially innovative, from the 17th century onward, the artists of the school became increasingly conservative and academic in their approach.

Kanō Tan'yu, Spring Landscape (1672)

Tan'yū headed the Kajibashi branch of the Kanō school in Edo and painted in many castles, including the Imperial palace. He used a less bold but extremely elegant style, which tended to become stiff and academic in the hands of less-talented imitators.

The range of forms, styles, and subjects that were established in the early 17th century continued to be developed and refined without major innovation for the next two centuries. Although the Kanō school was the most successful in Japan, the distinctions between its work and the work of other schools tended to diminish over time, as all schools worked in a range of styles and formats, making the attribution of unsigned works often unclear. By the end of the Edo period and the beginning of the Meiji period (1868), the Kanō school had divided into many different branches. 

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