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Kose no Kanaoka
( fl c. AD 868–95). Japanese painter. The supposed founder of the Kose lineage of court painters, Kanaoka belonged to a middle-ranking aristocratic family. Although his paintings themselves were no longer extant when Kano Eino (1631–97) discussed him in Honcho gashi (‘History of our country’s painting; c. 1676–8), his reputation had assured him a place in the histories of early Japanese painting. The earliest record of Kanaoka’s activities appears in the poetry anthology of Sugawara no Michizane, who asked ‘Professor’ Kanaoka for a painting or plan of the Shinsen imperial garden in Kyoto, for which the latter was then superintendent. By the 880s Kanaoka was clearly a professional painter in the service of the imperial court. In 880 and 888 he painted representations of Chinese scholars and sages for the court university and for a screen in the imperial palace. In 885 and also in 895 Kanaoka painted screens to be installed behind the seat of honour during the 50th birthday celebrations of prominent ministers. Michizane’s Chinese poems written for these screens survive and provide a few clues to their appearance. The references to ‘white snow’, ‘pale red plums’, ‘fallen flowers’ and ‘bright moon, spring wind’ in the five poems for the 885 screen suggest the presence of people enjoying themselves in an early spring landscape. The 895 screen probably depicted the lofty peaks and deep valleys of famous Chinese mountains. The poems seem to agree with an early 12th-century recollection that Kanaoka ‘piled up his mountains in 15 layers’. In subject and style Kanaoka drew his inspiration from Tang period (618–907) painting. Diplomatic relations with China had waned by the late 9th century, yet he could have known original Chinese screen paintings belonging to the imperial or aristocratic households that he served (see CHINA, §V, 3(iv)(a)).
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