Kano Shōei

Place: Kyoto

Born: 1519

Death: 1592

Biography:

Kano Shōei was a Japanese artist who was born in Kyoto, Japan in 1519 and died in 1592. He was a member of the Kanō school of painting, which was the dominant style of painting from the late 15th century until the Meiji period. The school began by reflecting a renewed influence from Chinese painting, but developed a brightly colored and firmly outlined style for large panels decorating the castles of the nobility. Kano Shōei was known for his landscape and bird-and-flower paintings. He was the son of Kanō Masanobu, the founder of the Kanō school, and married the daughter of Tosa Mitsunobu, the head of the Tosa school. He was appointed court artist to the Muromachi government and his works include a large screen with a crane in a snowy landscape in the Shinju-an, a sub-temple of Daitoku-ji. Kano Shōei's Chinese-style Zhou Maoshu Appreciating Lotuses in the Kyushu National Museum is a National Treasure of Japan.