Changes

*''Japanese'': 俵屋宗達 ''(Tawaraya Soutatsu)''

*''Japanese'': 俵屋宗達 ''(Tawaraya Soutatsu)''

Tawaraya Sôtatsu was a ''[[machi-eshi]]'' painter active in Kyoto in the early decades of the 17th century. Along with [[Honami Koetsu|Hon'ami Kôetsu]], with whom he worked closely, he is considered one of the forerunners of the [[Rinpa]] style, which was founded by [[Ogata Korin|Ogata Kôrin]] roughly a century later explicitly imitating and reviving the style of Kôetsu and Sôtatsu.

Tawaraya Sôtatsu was a ''[[machi-eshi]]'' painter active in Kyoto in the early decades of the 17th century. Along with [[Honami Koetsu|Hon'ami Kôetsu]], with whom he worked closely, he is considered one of the forerunners of the [[Rinpa]] style, which was founded by [[Ogata Korin|Ogata Kôrin]] roughly a century later explicitly imitating and reviving the style of Kôetsu and Sôtatsu.

He was the proprietor of a shop, called the Tawaraya, specializing in producing paintings, fans, dolls, and other small objects for a largely ''[[chonin|chônin]]'' (commoner/townspeople) market, though he had samurai and ''[[kuge]]'' customers as well. Through these aristocratic connections, he began to receive commissions from the court itself. The painting of a series of doors and panels for the [[Yogen-in|Yôgen-in]] in [[1621]] was perhaps the first of these commissions; of those which survive, the gilded wall panels are decorated chiefly with pine tree motifs, while the doors feature pictures of lions and elephants. Shortly afterwards, he was granted the honorary title of ''hokkyô'' by [[Emperor Go-Mizunoo]].

Relatively little is known about Sôtatsu's biography. His family name may have been Kitagawa or Nonomura; the years of his birth and death are unknown. Some sources indicate he may have been of some relation to Hon'ami Kôetsu through marriage, but this too is unclear.<ref name=mason>Mason, Penelope. ''History of Japanese Art''. Second Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005. pp267-271.</ref>

Sôtatsu may have studied painting under the court painter [[Kaiho Yusho|Kaihô Yûshô]]. In [[1602]], he engaged in the repair of the ''[[Heike nokyo|Heike nôkyô]]'', a copy of the [[Lotus Sutra]] belonging to the [[Taira clan]] and dating back to [[1164]].

 

Sôtatsu may have studied painting under the court painter [[Kaiho Yusho|Kaihô Yûshô]]. The earliest known mention of Sôtatsu in the historical record relates that in [[1602]], he engaged in the repair of the ''[[Heike nokyo|Heike nôkyô]]'', a copy of the [[Lotus Sutra]] belonging to the [[Taira clan]] and dating back to [[1164]]. This work chiefly involved repainting elements on the endpapers of the scrolls, in gold paint, and adding some new paintings of his own, such as a section depicting deer, in silver and gold paint, at the head of one of the scrolls.<ref name=mason/>

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]].