So much can be written about Japanese paintings. There are so many styles and influences that a single museum would be hard pressed to display all the different styles of Japanese paintings. No matter what era or period you come from, the awe of Japanese paintings never goes away!

Tani Bunchō (谷文晁) was from a family that received a stipend from the shogun to paint and write poetry. Therefore Bunchō grew up studying painting and he studied under various masters. He studied Japanese, Chinese and even European styles of painting, but Bunchō was most influenced by Chinese paintings. The painting on the left represents eight Daoist immortals in the Chinese style of painting.

Like Tani Bunchō, Okada Beisanjin (岡田米山人) was influenced by Chinese styles of painting. His works are famous for its strong brushstrokes, which give his painting a lot of texture. The painting on the left is of a man with his harp. The background of the painting is of a mountain landscape, which Beisanjin was particularly fond of.

Shibata Zeshin (柴田是真) is known creating paintings of simple beauty and elegance. What’s interesting is that Zeshin’s work is not as highly regarded in Japan as it is in the West. The Japanese consider his works overly simply and typical of Japanese paintings. However, the fact that his paintings are typical prototypes of Japanese paintings is what makes them appealing for study in the West.

Kanō Motonobu (狩野元信) was a famous painter from a famous family of painters. Motonobu’s paintings had the characteristic of heavily stressed outlines in his depiction of human figures. Some of Motonobu’s paintings can still be seen inside Japanese temples located in Kyoto. Like it was in his time, his works are still well regarded as masterpieces.

Josetsu (如拙) was a Chinese immigrant who was naturalized as a Japanese citizen. He has the distinction of being called “the father of Japanese ink painting”. The painting below is a depiction of a man catching a cat fish with a gourd. It’s based on a riddle set by a shogun who proposed the question, “How do you catch a cat fish with a gourd?”