Mori Sosen

"Five Monkeys" by Mori Sosen, at the Honolulu Museum of Art

• Born: 1747
• Died: 1821
• Japanese: 森狙仙 (Mori Sosen)

Mori Sosen was an Edo period painter, known especially for his paintings of monkeys.

Along with his elder brother Mori Shûhô, Sosen founded a school of animal painting in Osaka. Through examination and copying of Chinese and Japanese paintings, copybooks, and the like, he became an expert at depicting monkeys, without having ever seen a live one. Not until 1809, that is, when a live gibbon was brought to Japan for the first time, and Mori had the opportunity to paint the creature from life.

References

• Gallery labels, "Five Monkeys - Mori Sosen," Honolulu Museum of Art, August 2014.