Ogata Kôrin (1658-1716) was born as the second son to the Kyoto kimono merchants, the Karigane-ya, and was raised in a family with very high social and cultural connections. The Karigane-ya numbered amongst their patrons the wife of Tokugawa Hidetada and Tôfukumon’in Masako, the granddaughter of Tokugawa Ieyasu who later became the wife of the Emperor Gomizunoo. The shop was extremely prosperous during Kôrin's great grandfather, grandfather, and father's generations. With the death of Tôfukumon'in, however, the shop's business waned, and Kôrin faced economic difficulties in his mid thirties. Thus Kôrin fell from his position of a wealthy birth, and yet, he turned his early history to good effect, using his creative sensibilities, education and human network as he set out on the path to becoming a painter. Kôrin is known as one of the painters of the pre modern age for whom biographies and related materials remain in great number. The most important of these documents are the Ex-Konishi Family Kôrin Documents. Mention of the various people related to the Nijô family with whom Kôrin would later enjoy close relationships can be found in the Karigane-ya documents among the Ex-Konishi family papers. These documents indicate that Kôrin was a frequent visitor to the residence of Nijô Tsunahira, while the Nijôke-nainai-Gobansho hinamiki diaries record the details of the visitors to and events held at the Nijô household. These all allow the consideration of Kôrin's role in this setting and the human network and events which can be linked to his later artistic production. Kôrin was given the honorary title of hokkyô in 1701, and this held important meaning in his activities as a painter. The majority of extant Kôrin works date from after his receipt of the hokkyô honor, and it should also be indicated that it was possibly the human network of the Nijô family that influenced his receipt of this honor. Further, Kôrin's interactions with Tsunahira's older brother Kujô Sukezane, and his younger brother Nishihonganji Jûnyo, led to his creation of works which were traditionally handed down at Nishihonganji temple and in the Kujô family, namely the Irises Screens (today in the Nezu Institute of Fine Arts), and the late work Peacock and Hollyhocks, formerly in the Kujô family collection and today in a private collection. The article examines the history behind the creation of these works and their formal expression. Kôrin established his own painting style and expression by utilizing to the greatest extent possible his educationally rich family background and the resulting creative sensibilities and human connections.
根生いの分限、絵描きへの道―尾形光琳を取り巻く環境と作品制作について―
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