The Hasegawa school was an important Japanese school of painting that emerged from the Azuchi–Momoyama period into the early Edo period, from the sixteenth to the early eighteenth century.

History and Background

Founder: Hasegawa Tōhaku (1539–1610), a painter born in Noto Province who was active in Kyoto.

Main centre of activity: Kyoto, particularly the area around Honpō-ji, a Nichiren Buddhist temple closely associated with the family.

Historical position: the school stood in competition with the powerful Kanō school, which dominated painting at the time. Tōhaku received the patronage and commissions of prominent figures including Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu.

What is Rinpa?

Rinpa, also known as the Kōrin school, is a Japanese school of visual art that emerged in the late Momoyama period and remained active into modern times. Hon'ami Kōetsu and Tawaraya Sōtatsu established its early style. In the second generation, the brothers Ogata Kōrin and Ogata Kenzan developed it through a substantial body of work. In the third generation, Sakai Hōitsu both continued the tradition and compiled and published the work of his predecessors, helping Rinpa become recognised as a coherent school. Unlike Edo-period schools such as Kanō and Maruyama–Shijō, whose artists learned directly from masters through copying, Rinpa's transmission crossed differences in time, place and social status. Rinpa has had a considerable influence on European Impressionism, modern Japanese painting and design, and holds an important place in Japanese art history.

Four especially representative painter-craftsmen associated with Rinpa, in chronological order, are Tawaraya Sōtatsu, Ogata Kōrin, Sakai Hōitsu and Kamisaka Sekka. They did not know one another and never met: their lives were separated by roughly a hundred years. Each represents a century in the history of Rinpa's development.

Giclée print / Metallic photo paper

The Rinpa school, also known as the "Korin school", is a modern school of plastic arts that emerged in the late Momoyama period in Japan. The first generation of Ben-Ami Koetsu (Ben-Ami Koetsu) and Tawaraya Soda laid down its style. The second generation of Ogata Korin and the Qianshan brothers created a large number of works to promote it. The third generation of Sakai Hugoichi not only continued its style, but also announced the compilation of predecessors' works to the world, allowing the "Lin school" to be recognized as a systematic genre in society. Relative to other Edo era schools such as the Kano School, the Maruyama School, and the Shijo School, the Rinpoche School learned painting skills directly from painters through imitation. The inheritance of the Rinpoche School does not matter the time, place, or status, and is a characteristic that other schools have not seen. Lam's influence on European impressionism, modern Japanese painting, and design has played a pivotal role in the history of Japanese art.

The four most representative craft painters in the Lin school, arranged according to the chronological order of their appearance, are Tawaraya Sonta, Ogata Korin, Sakai Hakuichi, and Kamisaka Yukiya. The four craft painters did not know each other or even met each other. Because the times they lived in were exactly one hundred years apart. In the history of Linpai, they represented a hundred years, or a century, respectively.