Kano Hogai

JAPAN, Yamaguchi; Edo to Meiji period (1615–1912)

Kano Hogai was originally known as Kotaro and also known as Shorin, among other aliases. He was born in Nagato (present day Yamaguchi) and was an artist between the Edo (1615–1868) and Meiji (1868–1912) periods. Hogai was a practitioner of Zen Buddhism under the tutelage of monk Rinryu at Kakuonji Temple in Nagato. His paintings were signed with “Hogai,” which was the Dharma name given to him by Rinryu. In 1846, he went to Edo to study painting under Kano Masanobu and later became the successor of the Kano school.
Hogai trave led to Kyoto in 1877 and began creating pottery and lacquer paintings. He participated in the Japan National Arts Exhibition in 1884 and entered two artworks, Brave Horse Under the Cherry Tree and Evening Creek by the Snowy Mountain. His works attracted the attention of E.F. Fenollasa, an American art critic who introduced him to the Japanese critic Okakura Tenshin. Hogai was prompted to join the Painting Appreciation Society, and thereafter, he produced several new paintings, and became known as an innovator and pioneer of the Japanese style. His paintings were brightly colored with modern compositions, adapting and incorporating the realistic and dimensional concepts of Western paintings into the traditional Kano school style. Hogai later became an integral figure in the establishment of the Tokyo University of the Arts, where several of his paintings are now collected.
Well-known paintings include Acala, Dragon-Subduing Arhat, and Two Kings, all of which are award-winning works. Among his paintings, Acala and Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva are listed as Important Cultural Properties of Japan.