Background
Soami was born in Japan. He was grandson and son of the painters and art connoisseurs Nōami and Geiami, respectively. His family name was Nakao, his given name Shinso and his pseudonym Kangaku.
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Soami was born in Japan. He was grandson and son of the painters and art connoisseurs Nōami and Geiami, respectively. His family name was Nakao, his given name Shinso and his pseudonym Kangaku.
Soami served Shogun Yoshimasa Ashikaga mainly as custodian of the Shogun s archives, collections of paintings and calligraphical works and tea ceremony articles.
An art connoisseur of distinction, he is said to have written Kundai Kan Sayuchoki which listed the Chinese paintings collected by the Shogun and dealt with fine arts. Actually, the book is believed to have been an enlargement of the one started by Noami. Onryoken Nichiroku and other documents of the period often refers to activities of Soami as art connoisseur around the Bummei (1469-1486) and Eisho (1504-1520) eras.
Is said to have painted Shosho Hakkei (a series of eight landscapes) and Коrо Nisei (Confucious and Laotze). Among his works which remain today the most famous are his pictures painted on paper screen at the Daisen-m Temple. Although artists of his time generally painted in the fashion of Chinese painters with a strong and vigorous touch, Soami painted with a softness and lightness of the traditional Japanese art, like Noami and Geiami.