Sesshu Toyo

[landscape with broken ink: Sesshu]

This month's dead japanese artist is Sesshu Toyo.

Wikihivequeenpedia dictates that it literally means 'snow boat'. I do not care if it means a ... well I do not care. He was an ink painter and a zen priest. Or a zen priest who painted with ink. As is with all interesting personalities he also comes with his own quirky story:

'There is a well-known episode about young Sesshū: he did not study Zen and Buddhism very much but always painted, and so he was punished, and tied to a pillar in the hall of the temple. After a while, a priest came to see him and jumped up with surprise. There was a mouse very close to Sesshū's foot-- but it was actually a picture which Sesshū had painted with his tears.'

Okay, so the guy knew how to draw pretty pictures, but was that it? Yes. He did only start learning to paint when he was 32. The age when most of his contemporaries in Europe died of a plague or a revolution. Toyo died when he was 87 proving that Japanese lived long then too. His legacy seems to have continued by those who are influenced by his art, namely the Unkoku-rin School.

His paintings are considered national treasures in Japan. Follow the links to some great vintage art.

Autumn and Winter Landscapes.
Birds and flowers.
Haboku style landscape.
Landscape of four seasons.
View of Ama-no-hashidate.