Page 30 - Designing_Nature_The_Rinpa_Aesthetic_in_Japanese_Art Metropolitan Museum PUB

style” (Kōrin-fū) and “Kōrin dyeing” (Kōrin-zome), which
had become synonymous with Kōrin patterns, were joined
by a number of other terms used to describe patterns or

motifs and likewise preceded by the name “Kōrin,” includ-
ing Kōrin pines and Kōrin bellflowers. Ultimately, it seems
that Kōrin himself had little direct input into the process
by which he became a household name.

paintings by followers of Ko¯rin
Kōrin’s painting designs were transmitted to future genera-
tions through the circulation of his works among wealthy

clients and in drawing manuals published in the early
nineteenth century. Among the Edo-period artists captivated
by the Rinpa aesthetic were Sakai Hōitsu, compiler of
One Hundred Paintings by Kōrin, and his pupil Suzuki

Kiitsu. It is not unusual for schools and lineages in the
Japanese tradition to be created retrospectively by a distant
descendant — say a grandson or more distant scion — wish-
ing to bask in the glory of the talented ancestor and profit

from the blood relationship, however tenuous. As suggested
above, however, the Rinpa school is a completely different
kind of constructed lineage, in which a “lost” generation fre-
quently intervened between the main pro ponents (Kōrin,

for example, did not achieve fame until about forty or fifty
years after the death of Kōetsu and Sōtatsu). Even though
followers carried the Rinpa banner during these long peri-
ods of dormancy, the overall effect was that Rinpa always
Fig. 5 ogata Kōrin (1658 – 1716). Sketch of Three Deer, edo period (1615–1868), early
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18th century. ink on paper, 11 /8 ∞ 15 in. (29 ∞ 38 cm). Mounted on a hanging- operated in a nostalgic mode.
scroll painting of flowering bush clover by suzuki Kiitsu (1796 – 1858), early Even if they were not direct disciples of Kōrin, a num-
1
5
19th century. ink, mineral colors, and gold on paper, 31 /4 ∞ 18 /8 in. (79.4 ∞
47.3 cm). the Metropolitan Museum of art, new york; promised gift of florence ber of Edo-period artists made their names by working in
and herbert irving
a Rinpa style, although not necessarily exclusively. From
early in his career, Watanabe Shikō (1683 – 1755) served the designing nature
courtier Konoe Iehiro, one of the great calligraphers and
tea masters of the age. Shikō had close links to the palace

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