|
Konoe Nobutada [Sanmyakuin]
(b 1565; d 1614). Japanese government official, poet, painter and calligrapher. Together with Hon’ami Koetsu (see HON’AMI, (1)) and SHOKADO SHOJO, Nobutada is recognized as one of the Kan’ei no Sanpitsu (‘Three Brushes of the Kan’ei [1624–44] era’), despite his death a decade earlier. The Konoe family belonged to the powerful Hokke branch of the Fujiwara family; Nobutada was the son of Fujiwara [Konoe] Sakihisa, a court official. He became Minister of the Left at the age of 21, but resigned this post in 1592 after a disagreement with the then Regent, Toyotomi Hideyoshi. He participated without permission in Hideyoshi’s ill-fated invasion of Korea in 1592, incurring imperial displeasure, and in 1594 was exiled to Satsuma in southern Kyushu. He returned to Kyoto in 1596, however, regained his ministerial portfolio and became Regent in 1605. He was one of the best-known calligraphers of his time. He studied Zen Buddhism at Daitokuji in Kyoto, which undoubtedly influenced his approach to calligraphy. While he was initially trained in the Shoren’in tradition of calligraphy (see JAPAN, §VII, 2(iii)), he later added his own refinements, which came to be known as the Konoe or Sanmyakuin style; this in turn developed a substantial following for many years. It is said he was also influenced by the Chinese calligrapher of the Song period (AD 960–1279) HUANG TINGJIAN. His mature calligraphies are described as vigorous yet gracious, strong yet elegant examples of the Wayo (Japanese) style of calligraphy. Many of his works are extant. They include tanzaku (oblong poem slips), screens, documents, books, model study materials and shikishi (poem cards; e.g. set of shikishi, c. 1600; Kyoto, Yomei Bunko). He delighted in writing both large and small characters but preferred, it seems, the former. An example of his large kana (Japanese phonetic script) is the Kasen byobu (‘Screen of a master poet’, pair of six-panel folding screens). Some scholars believe that his kana creations were the precursors of modern large kana calligraphy. Nobutada’s paintings were simple monochromatic ink works, one of his favourite themes being paintings of Kitano Tenjin, the deified courtier–poet Sugawara no Michizane (e.g. Cambridge, MA, priv. col.; see Addiss, pl. 9). They are classed among the Zenga (Zen-style pictures) of the Edo period (1600–1868).
|
