Kano School was a group of Japanese painters whose members were all drawn from one family. Successive generations of the Kano School formed a dynasty that lasted from the 1400’s to the 1800’s and provided Japan’s leading artists of that period. In the 1600’s, members of the Kano School set standards for Japanese painting that persisted for more than 200 years. The style featured two-dimensional compositions, decorative patterns, and nonreligious subject matter.
The artists of the Kano family made brush-and-ink paintings on paper screens and sliding panels. The Kano painters were influenced by single-color paintings produced by Chinese priests during the 1100’s and 1200’s. The first Kano paintings used subdued colors combined with strong brushwork. Later, members of the school used bolder brushwork and bright colors, often on gold-leaf backgrounds. All the Kano artists were official painters to the Japanese shoguns (military rulers), and their paintings often reflected the political ideals of the shoguns.
The founder of the Kano School was Kano Masanobu (1434-1530), the son of a samurai (warrior) who was an amateur artist. Masanobu’s son Kano Motonobu (1476-1559) combined Chinese ink-painting techniques with the traditional Japanese style. Kano Eitoku (1543-1590), the grandson of Motonobu, introduced bold brushwork and bright colors on a gold-leaf background. He also made his figures stand out by edging them with a thick, black outline. Kano Tanyu (1602-1674) was noted for his pictures of historical figures and his return to the subdued colors of the earlier Kano style. His most famous painting was Confucius and two disciples. The Kano school received the patronage of shoguns until the reign of the last shogun ended in 1867.
