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[[Image:Matsushima-Screens.JPG|right|thumb|300px|The right screen of Sôtatsu's "[[Matsushima]] Screens," today in the collection of the Freer Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.]]
*''Active: c. 1600-1640''
*''Active: c. 1600-1640''
*''Japanese'': 俵屋宗達 ''(Tawaraya Soutatsu)''
*''Japanese'': 俵屋宗達 ''(Tawaraya Soutatsu)''
Kôetsu was granted a plot of land in Takagamine in [[1615]] by [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]], and Sôtatsu joined him in establishing there, in the hills to the northwest of Kyoto proper, an artists' colony that included Kôetsu's extended family, and roughly fifty other households. Most, if not all, of the members of the community were commoners (''[[chonin|chônin]]'' - townspeople), but were rather prominent and influential townsmen; whether for Kôetsu or Sôtatsu specifically, or for the community more generally, Takagamine saw not infrequent visits from noblemen, and on at least one occasion, in [[1638]], from the Empress [[Tofukumon'in|Tôfukumon'in]].
Kôetsu was granted a plot of land in Takagamine in [[1615]] by [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]], and Sôtatsu joined him in establishing there, in the hills to the northwest of Kyoto proper, an artists' colony that included Kôetsu's extended family, and roughly fifty other households. Most, if not all, of the members of the community were commoners (''[[chonin|chônin]]'' - townspeople), but were rather prominent and influential townsmen; whether for Kôetsu or Sôtatsu specifically, or for the community more generally, Takagamine saw not infrequent visits from noblemen, and on at least one occasion, in [[1638]], from the Empress [[Tofukumon'in|Tôfukumon'in]].
Once Sôtatsu came to focus more heavily on Imperial and shogunate commissions, he turned over the Tawaraya to his successor, Tawaraya Sôsetsu.
==Style and Famous Works==
Sôtatsu studied under a Kanô artist, and painted in a very contemporary style for his time. Yet, he drew upon the ''[[yamato-e]]'' tradition, and various aspects of [[Heian period]] style and motifs heavily in his work.
Along with Hon'ami Kôetsu, who often did calligraphy for Sôtatsu's paintings, he produced a number of works focusing on calligraphic inscriptions of Heian period poetry, e.g. by the [[Sanjurokkasen|Sanjûrokkasen]], or referring to Heian period themes, e.g. from the [[Genji Monogatari|Tale of Genji]] or [[Ise monogatari|Tales of Ise]]. Many of these smaller scale works were done on decorated paper, using silver or gold leaf or paint.
In his larger-scale work, Sôtatsu is known especially for his folding screen ''[[byobu|byôbu]]'' paintings, in bright colors against a gold-foil ground. Two of his most famous works are a pair of screens owned by the temple [[Kennin-ji]] in Kyoto, depicting Raijin and Fûjin (Gods of Thunder and Wind), and a pair of screens known as the [[Matsushima]] Screens, today in the [http://www.asia.si.edu/collections/singleObject.cfm?ObjectNumber=F1906.231-232 collection of the Freer Gallery] of the Smithsonian Institution. Both of these works were copied roughly a century later by Ogata Kôrin<ref>One of [http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/waves-at-matsushima-25005 Kôrin's pair of Matsushima Screens] are in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.</ref>, and have been referenced and reproduced countless times since.
==References==
==References==
*Lillehoj, Elizabeth. ''Art and Palace Politics in Early Modern Japan 1580s-1680s''. Brill Publishing, 2011. pp176-184.
*Lillehoj, Elizabeth. ''Art and Palace Politics in Early Modern Japan 1580s-1680s''. Brill Publishing, 2011. pp176-184.
*Mason, Penelope. ''History of Japanese Art''. Second Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005. pp267-271.
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[[Category:Artists and Artisans]]
[[Category:Artists and Artisans]]
[[Category:Edo Period]]
[[Category:Edo Period]]
