Toyo Sesshu. Sesshu Toyo was the most prominent Japanese master of ink and wash painting from the middle Muromachi period.
He was born into the samurai Oda family, then brought up and educated to become a Rinzai Zen Buddhist priest. However, early in life he displayed a talent for visual arts, and eventually became one of the greatest Japanese artists of his time, widely revered throughout Japan and China.
Sesshu studied under Tensho Shubun and was influenced by Chinese Song dynasty landscape painting. In 1468–69, he undertook a voyage to Ming China, where too he was quickly recognized as an outstanding painter.
Upon returning to Japan, Sesshu built himself a studio and established a large following, painters that are now referred to as the Unkoku-rin school—or School of Sesshu. Although many paintings survive that bear Sesshu's signature or seal, only a few can be securely attributed to him.
His most well-known work is the so-called Long Landscape Scroll. Sesshu was born in Akahama, a settlement in Bitchu Province, which is now part of western Okayama Prefecture. His family name was Oda, but his original name is unknown. He received the name Toyo in 1431, when he was enrolled at the Hofuku-ji, a Zen temple in Soja. Kano Eino's History of Japanese Painting, a 17th-century source, contains a well-known anecdote about the young Sesshu: apparently the future painter did not study Zen with
He was born into the samurai Oda family, then brought up and educated to become a Rinzai Zen Buddhist priest. However, early in life he displayed a talent for visual arts, and eventually became one of the greatest Japanese artists of his time, widely revered throughout Japan and China.
Sesshu studied under Tensho Shubun and was influenced by Chinese Song dynasty landscape painting. In 1468–69, he undertook a voyage to Ming China, where too he was quickly recognized as an outstanding painter.
Upon returning to Japan, Sesshu built himself a studio and established a large following, painters that are now referred to as the Unkoku-rin school—or School of Sesshu. Although many paintings survive that bear Sesshu's signature or seal, only a few can be securely attributed to him.
His most well-known work is the so-called Long Landscape Scroll. Sesshu was born in Akahama, a settlement in Bitchu Province, which is now part of western Okayama Prefecture. His family name was Oda, but his original name is unknown. He received the name Toyo in 1431, when he was enrolled at the Hofuku-ji, a Zen temple in Soja. Kano Eino's History of Japanese Painting, a 17th-century source, contains a well-known anecdote about the young Sesshu: apparently the future painter did not study Zen with
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