Kōno Bairei’s life history.
Kōno Bairei’s life history – The key life events that are known about Kōno Bairei the famous Japanese artist include the following:
Kōno Bairei Born 3rd March, 1844 – Died 20th February, 1895. He was a Japanese painter, art teacher and book illustrator. He was named Yasuda Bairei at birth and lived in Kyoto. He was involved with the Maruyama-Shijo school and was a master of kacho-ga painting (illustration of birds and flowers) in the Meiji period of Japan.
Kōno Bairei went to study with the Maruyama-school painter, Nakajima Raisho (1796–1871) in 1852. Raisho died in 1871 so Kōno Bairei decided to study with the Shijo-school master Shiokawa Bunrin (1808–77). Bairei’s work at that time included bird, flower and landscape prints that were influenced by western realism. Bairei’s published an Album of One Hundred Birds in 1881. Unlike most of the ukiyo-e artists, he trained as a classical Japanese painter.
Bairei went on to open an art school in 1880 and his students included young artists Uemura Shōen, Kawai Gyokudō, Takeuchi Seihō who would all become well known artists later in their lives.
Bairei was invited to show his work at the second Kyoto Exposition In 1873. Then he went on to show at other government sponsored expositions. From these expositions Bairei attracted the attention of the abbot of Higashi Honganji in Kyoto, Ōtani Kōshō, who patronized Bairei and invited him on visits to Kyushu in 1877 and the Kantō in 1885.
Later Bairei joined wih Mochizuki Gyokusen (1834-1913), Kubota Beisen (1852-1906), and other artists to co-found the Kyoto Prefectural Painting School in 1878. The Kyoto University of Arts that still operates today originated from this school. Bairei was in charge of the Northern School for a short peiod, before having a disagreement with another teaching artist Suzuki Hyakunen (1825-1891) which caused both men to leave. He returned in 1888, and left again in 1890 amid a controversy over changes that he proposed.
In 1886 Bairei and Kubota Beisen founded the Kyoto Young Painters Study Group, whose aim was to train and promote young painters based on talent rather than inheritance. The group was briefly successful, but again controversy disrupted the group and it dissolved. So Bairei decided to leave and Kyoto and went Nagoya for most of the remainder of that decade. Subsequently Bairei left Kyoto for Nagoya for much of the remainder of the decade.
Next in in 1895 Bairei returned to Kyoto and collaborated with his associate Beisen, founding the Kyoto Art Association, which launched one of the city’s first arts journals. They also established the first major competitive painting exhibition in Kyoto, called the “Exhibition of New and Old Art.”
Bairei had become one of the most promiant artists of that time with about 60 apprentices in his studio named Ryōuin-juku (‘the atelier of the transcending cloud’). His apprentises included: Uemura Shoen,Kawai Gyokudō, Kikuchi Hōbun, Takeuchi Seihō (1864-1942) (Bairei’s most well known student) and the recently rediscovered Tsuji Kakō (1871-1931).Bairei has been described as a stern instructor and even being quite harsh at times.
Originally woodblock prints were an afterthought, But Bairei went on to design woodblocks for illustrated books and produced he produced a series of prints, including: Bairei hyakuchō gafu (Bairei’s Album of 100 Birds); Bairei kachō gafu (Bairei’s Album Flowers and Birds) which illustrated birds and flowers over the four seasons of the year, and Bairei Gakan (Mirror of Bairei Paintings) which shows birds, flowers, animals, insects, landscapes, Mt. Fuji and more subjects. Bairei‘s kacho-ga and landscapes are considered to have “a faint touch of Western realism.”
Bairei suddenly announced his retirement from the art world In February 1891, and the following year he sent his “Landscape in Autumn” to the World Fair held in Chicago. Soon afte Bairei travelled with Bishop Kōshō of Higashi Honganji on the latterHonganji ‘s preaching tour. In 1893 Bairei achieved the honoured position of being a member of the Art Committee of the Imperial Household. In 1894 he was commissioned to paint murals in Higashi Honganji Tokyo, and soon after the completion of this work he died.