Soga Shohaku

Background

Soga Shohaku was born in Ise Province (Mie Prefecture) or Kyōto, Japan. Shōhaku's birth name was Miura Sakonjirō. His family was wealthy, but all of his immediate family members died before he reached the age of 18.

Education

As a young man, he was a student of Takada Keiho of the prominent Kanō School, which drew upon Chinese techniques and subject matters. His disillusionment with the school led him to appreciate the works of Muromachi era painter Soga Jasoku. He began to use the earlier style of brushstroke, painting mostly monochromes, despite the fact it had become unfashionable.

Career

Soga Shohaku was an eccentric about whom many anecdotes were told. He called the works of Okyo Maruyama "drawings " because he hated Okyo. He often visited Kyoto and Osaka.

Believing that the Kand school was decadent, he painted in the style of the Higashiyama Period (around 1480). Called himself a descendant of Jasoku Soga 10 generations removed, using a seal of Jasokuken. He liked to paint Chinese hermits and landscapes. People are portrayed like ghosts and monsters in his pictures.

Works

More photos

• painting

  • Beauty

    (Nara Prefectural Museum of Art)

  • Orchid pavilion gathering

    (National Gallery of Victoria)

  • Hawk

    (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)

  • The Daoist Immortal: Li Tieguai and Liu Haichan

    (Museum of Fine Arts Boston)

  • The Three Laughers of Tiger Ravine

    (Indianapolis Museum of Art)

  • Sessen Dōji-zu

    (Mie Prefectural Art Museum)

  • Seascape with Hawk and Crane

    1760

  • painting

  • Dragon and Tiger

    1770

  • Horses

References

• Zen Paintings in Edo Japan (1600-1868): Playfulness and Freedom in the Artwork of Hakuin Ekaku and Sengai Gibon
  2014
• Motto Shiritai Soga Shohaku: The Life and Work of Soga
  2008