Tensho Shubun

JAPAN; Muromachi period

Tensho Shubun, originally named Fujikura Shubun, was a monk and painter. At a relatively young age, he entered Shokokuji Temple and was put in charge of temple affairs. There, aside from practicing meditation, he studied painting under Josetsu. He eventually succeeded Josetsu and became the imperial painter during the rule of Ashikaga Yoshinori (reigned 1429–1441) of the Muromachi period.
He was skilled in landscape paintings and often imitated Ma Yuan’s and Xia Gui’s diagonal layout. In his paintings, pines and rocks are depicted in thick ink against a distant scene that is clearly and lightly drawn; this spatial contrast is apparent with little decoration. Human figures appear natural and lively in ink wash. Tensho cultivated a group of renowned disciples which included Sesshu Toyo, Gakuo Zokyu, Bokkei, and Oguri Sotan. He laid a solid foundation for the development of inked landscape paintings during the Muromachi period, and is regarded as the father of ink paintings in Japan. Works attributed to him include Hanshan and Shide and Reading in a Bamboo Grove, which are kept at the Tokyo National Museum; Landscape of the Four Seasons, at the Museum Yamato Bunkakan in Nara; and Ten Ox Herding Pictures, at Shokokuji Temple. Reading in a Bamboo Grove and Landscape of the Four Seasons are listed as National Treasures.