狩野芳崖

Born on the 13th day of the first month of Bunsei 11 (Gregorian calendar February 27, 1828), in Chōfuinnai, Toyoura-gun, Nagato-no-kuni. His childhood name was Kōtarō. His father was Kanō Seikō, a painter in service to the Chōfu clan. Hōgai learned basic Kanō school painting methods from his father starting in his childhood. He produced paintings up until the age of 11 under the “gō” (art name) Shōrin. In 1846 the clan permitted him to move to Edo for study, and he entered the studio of Seisen’in Kanō Osanobu of the Kobikichō Kanō school. Osanobu died shortly after his arrival, so he was then trained by Shōsen’in Kanō Tadanobu. In 1849 he was granted one character from his teacher’s name and took the “gō” Shōkai. Around 1857 he traveled to the Kansai region, returned to the Chōfu clan lands, and married Tahara (Tawara) Yoshi. Later he returned alone to Edo. Around this time he took the name Hōgai, signifying a desire to leave the Kanō school, and he began to create his own painting style and took an empirical approach to his study of Sesshū. In 1867 his father died and he inherited the family head role. His fortunes declined after the Meiji Restoration and subsequent disbanding of the feudal system. When he was in his mid-forties he struggled to support himself, making ends meet any which way, from trying his hand at sericulture to running a stationery goods shop in his hometown. In 1877 he moved his family to Tokyo. His oldest son Kōgai entered Keiō Gijuku school, and they lived in Mitatoyooka-chō. He worked at the export company Seikōsha, earning a wage by producing underdrawings for ceramic and lacquerware decoration. In 1882 he submitted “Landscape” and “Hōtei” (both whereabouts unknown) to the first Naikoku Kaiga Kyōshinkai 内国絵画共進会 (National Painting Competition). While they were not given awards, they were noticed by Ernest Fenollosa and thus began Fenollosa’s influence on his work. At the end of the following year Fenollosa hired him for a monthly wage of 20 yen, and later he was moved to a house prepared for him near Fenollosa’s house in the Hongō district of Tokyo. The “Kannon” (1884, Freer Gallery of Art, Washington), entered in the second Salon of Japanese Painters (Salon annuel des peintres japonais) パリ日本美術縦覧会 held in Paris, is said to be a work created by Hōgai prior to being influenced by Fenollosa. He later worked on promoting the movement to transform Nihonga (Japanese-style Painting), primarily through the Kangakai 鑑画会 (Painting Appreciation Society) painting appreciation group organized by Fenollosa. In 1884 he entered “Dashing Horse under a Cherry Tree” (1884, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo) and other works in the second Naikoku Kaiga Kyōshinkai and received awards. In 1885 his “Arhat with Dragon” (1885, Fukui Fine Arts Museum) was awarded Third Prize in the First Kangakai Exhibition. The painting’s composition and color palette reveal suggestions from Fenollosa’s theories about painting. It was also around this period that he painted ink paintings on imported Whatman paper. Hōgai experimented with Western painting methods, particularly the use of Western pigments, in his “Niō (Buddhist Guardian) Seizing an Evil Spirit” (1886, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo) entered in the Second Kangakai Exhibition. In 1886 he was employed at the monthly salary of 15 yen by the Ministry of Education’s newly established Zuga Torishirabe Gakari 図画取調掛. This department set up to survey drawings and paintings was part of Ministry’s preparations for the opening of the Tokyo Fine Arts School (present-day Tokyo University of the Arts). That year he accompanied Okakura Kakuzō (Tenshin) and others on a survey of ancient art in Nara, and his painting “Nara Kan’yū Jidori” (1886, Tokyo University of the Arts) remains from that journey. He began to paint new images of Kannon (Avalokitesvara) based on the Buddhist paintings and sculptures he saw in ancient temples and shrines during that trip, and his experience of climbing Mt. Myōgi. Around this period he painted “Acalanatha” (Important Cultural Property (ICP), ca. 1887, Tokyo University of the Arts). His final period works were produced during the preparations for the opening of the Tokyo Fine Arts School. It was anticipated that Hōgai would be a central figure in the courses teaching modern Nihonga after the school opened. However, that did not come to pass, as he developed pneumonia and died on November 5, 1888 at his home in Ogawamachi, Kanda-ku. He worked on his final painting “Avalokitesvara as a Merciful Mother” (ICP, 1888, Tokyo University of the Arts) up until right before his death. This painting, based on tradition but displaying areas of previously unseen handling, stands as both a compilation of Hōgai’s late period research and as an art historically important work that should be positioned as the starting point of modern Nihonga. (Furuta Ryo / Translated by Martha J. McClintock) (Published online: 2024-05-24 ) (Last updated: 2025-08-15 )