The Hara School was a Kyoto-based Japanese painting atelier established in the late Edo era, which continued as a family-controlled enterprise through the early 20th century. The Hara artists were imperial court painters and exerted great influence within Kyoto art circles. They contributed paintings to various temples and shrines, as well as to the Kyoto Imperial Palace.
Late Edo period painting schools Artistic production in Edo period Japan was dominated by schools, which were professional workshops organized along patriarchal lines. They had the twinned goals of training painters to faithfully continue school techniques, and of producing art to satisfy patrons. Art was largely the domain of private patrons and connoisseurs, its manufacture being commission-driven by nobles, daimyōs, temples and shrines.Rimer 2003, xviii Only late in the nineteenth-century did art become accessible to the public, with the 1872 opening of Japan's first museum.
Schools were characterized by an extended family structure based on heredity through birth or adoption, and were modeled on the medieval guild system.Gerhart 2003, 9 Workshops also took inspiration from the edokoro,"At the imperial court, an atelier known as the edokoro had been in existence since at least the ninth century, producing paintings for private and official commissions. In later centuries, such offices were also sponsored by major temples and shrines, military governments, and retired emperors." Quoted in Lillehoj 2004, 217 government-run painting offices. The late Edo atelier system had four features: the primacy of blood line, the hereditary transmission of skill from male to male, the positioning of the oldest male as single head, and alliances with other workshops through contract or marriage.Gerhart 2003, 11
Artistic ability was defined as a combination of shitsuga (質画) and gakuga (学画): innate and learned painting skill.Kono 1993, 24 Pupils entered workshops as children, based not primarily on talent, but on status.Jordan 2003, 40 Some studios strictly policed students' leisure activities, such as drinking and socializing, which was facilitated by the fact that pupils traditionally lived-in as uchi deshi.Jordan 2003, 47 Study was a serious, time-consuming endeavor: "the successful student spent years in training, a time during which he developed physical stamina, self-discipline, perseverance, the ability to earn for himself, facility in technical skills, and a good understanding of the aesthetics and spiritual considerations required of a dedicated painter".Jordan 2003, 42 Most studied for over ten years before being allowed to graduate, if they were allowed to graduate.Jordan 2003, 57 Apprenticeship began with menial tasks and "unobtrusive observation".Jordan 2003, 43 As pupils worked their way up to the rank of head students (deshi gashira),Jordan 2003, 46 their relationship to their mentors was comparable to that of retainer to lord. Though seniors were usually referred to as sensei (teacher), some pupils addressed their instructors as tonosama, an honorific title for a feudal lord.
Though apprentices were there to learn, they also constituted a valuable labour pool, with their artistic output contributing financially to the school.Jordan 2003, 52 Typically, the head would first outline in detail the overall composition, and pupils would then divide up the supplementary tasks.Sasaki 1993, 48 This benefited both school and patron, allowing the former to take on large scale commissions, and ensuring the latter timely completion of their orders under the ultimate accountability of the house head.Sasaki 1993, 57
The methods of craft transmission were based on those established in China, and consisted of highly methodical copying of sample images until they could be adequately reproduced without looking at the model.Sasaki 1993, 56 This was practiced in a number of ways, including through use of edehon, "pictorial models containing sketches of such things as ideal forms, subjects, and objects that are copied repeatedly for study purposes in learning painting".Jordan 2003, 33–34 This was employed ardently within the Kanō School, which wanted to ensure its tenets were not diluted through its wide network of painters. Consistency was also attempted through written manuals detailing such trade secrets as pigments and brush technique.Sasaki 1993, 47
Head artists of the Hara school Primary name Dates Birth name Azana/ Gō/ Alternate names 1 Hara Zaichū (原在中) 1750–1837 Chien (致遠) Shijū (子重), Gayū (臥遊) 2 Hara Zaimei (原在明) 1778–1844 Chikayoshi (近義) Shitoku (子徳), Shashō ( 写照) 3 Hara Zaishō (原在照) 1813–1872 Shisha (子写), Kanran (観瀾), Nankei (南荊), Yūran (夕鸞) 4 Hara Zaisen (原在泉) 1849–1916 Shikon (子混), Shōtō (松濤) 5 Hara Zaikan (原在寛) 1884–1957 Shoun? 6 Hara Arinao (原在修) b. 1922
Hara Zaichū
Biography Hara Zaichū was born Hara Chien (致遠) in 1750 in Kyoto, where he lived throughout his life. Although his family were sake brewers, Zaichū followed his passion for art.Tazawa 1981, 81 He studied the painting techniques of the then dominant Kanō School under master painter Ishida Yutei (石田幽汀) (1721–86) and was instructed in Buddhist painting by Yamamoto Tan'en (山本探淵) (d. 1816). Zaichū also took advantage of access to Ming period Chinese paintings in the collections of some Kyoto shrines and temples.
Zaichū studied alongside Maruyama Ōkyo (円山応挙) (1733–95), who was to become one of the most influential artists of the Edo period and start his own painting school. There is some question as to whether Zaichū was Maruyama's pupil. Following Maruyama's death, Zaichū claimed not to have been, but this was disputed by Maruyama School members, most notably Zaichū's rival Kishi Ganku.Suzuki 2006, 55 Many modern biographies describe Zaichū as the "student" and Maruyama as his "teacher". Regardless, Zaichū was strongly influenced by Maruyama, as well as by the Kanō and the Tosa school styles. From these varied influences, Zaichū founded the Hara School in the mid-1770s.
Zaichū was a prominent figure in the Kyoto art world, and an official court artist.Suzuki 2006, 53 So strong was his court affiliation that he earned the moniker Kyūtei-ha (宮廷派), reflecting his status as a court representative. His name appeared in all five editions of the Heian jinbutsushi, a "Who's Who" of Kyoto, from 1775 through 1830.
All four of his sons went on to become professional painters. The three eldest, Zaisei (原在正), Zaimei (原在明) and Zaizen (原在善), joined the Hara atelier. His youngest, Zaishin, was adopted into the Umeto family and worked under the name Umeto Zaishin (梅戸在親). Zaichū remained active and his skill undiminished until his death in 1837. He is buried on the grounds of Kyoto's Tenshōji Temple (天性寺).
Style Thematically, his repertoire was diverse, including landscapes, portraits, plants and flowers, animals, Buddhist scenes (仏画), and gods (神像). He was considered particularly expert at court scenes, as well as landscapes and nature scenes. When construction began on Kyoto's Imperial Palace in 1790, Zaichū joined artists from the Tosa and Kanō schools to contribute several paintings. He also produced fusuma-e (sliding door paintings) for Kyoto temples such as Ninnaji (仁和寺), Kenninji (建仁寺), Shōgoin ( 聖護院) and Shōkokuji (相國寺). He worked in various scales and media, from small emaki (絵巻) handscrolls, kakemono (掛け物) hanging scrolls, and ema (絵馬) wooden prayer boards, to large fusuma-e (襖絵).
The Hara style tends to be described relative to other styles, for example as "lying somewhere between the orthodox Kanō, Chinese literati and Maruyama styles". Critics identify his work as delicate and decorative,Conant 1995, 18 as well as precise, balanced and elegant.Suzuki 2006, 54 In comparison with many of his contemporaries, he was less inclined toward realism and drama. As a result, his works are considered "rather quiet and low key", or even characterized by "stiffness", yet "admirably suited to the needs of the court".
Critical assessment Many of Zaichū's paintings were stored in prominent Kyoto temples frequented mainly by the nobility. As a result, his works were not available to the public, which some argue has negatively affected his reputation. In addition to despairing of Zaichū's works' "blandness", some modern critics have challenged his status as an important artist, arguing that his works are essentially imitations of older Chinese and Japanese paintings rather than original, creative pieces. Others acknowledge his use of prototypes, but suggest that his works demonstrate a "characteristic Japanese dynamism". Zaichū, for the record, acknowledged his indebtedness to existing works: on some paintings, instead of signing his name, he wrote captions identifying the pieces as "copies" or as being "after" a given artist.Suzuki 2006, 58–59
Works In addition to those on display in the Kyoto Imperial Palace, paintings by Zaichū can be seen at the Kyoto National Museum (京都国立博物館), Shizuoka Museum (静岡県立美術館), Iida City Museum (飯田市美術博物館), Daitokuji Temple, Ikkyūji Temple (一休寺), and Shōkokuji Temple (相国寺). Outside Japan, the British Museum holds one of his paintings.
Hara Zaimei
Born in 1778, Zaimei was the second son of Hara Zaichū. He studied painting under his father, whom he succeeded as second head of the Hara academy after the death of his older brother. He was particularly skilled at painting classical court scenes. Under Zaimei, the Hara School was selected to head the official painting atelier attached to Nara's Kasuga Shrine, a relationship which continued throughout successive Hara generations. Zaisen died in 1844 and was buried within the Tenshōji Temple precinct.
Among his most notable works is the Iwashimizu Hachimangu festival scroll (石清水臨時祭礼図巻), which depicts a festival procession at a major Kyoto shrine. His works are also in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and the British Museum.
Hara Zaishō Born in 1813, Zaishō was active during the late Edo and early Meiji periods. It was a time of great change within Japan due to its 1854 opening to the West. He was brought into the Hara family as Zaichū's adopted son and went on to become the third head of the school. As an imperial painter, he was promoted to Senior Sixth Rank Upper (正六位上), an aristocratic position within the court ranks.
He contributed pieces to the Kyoto Imperial Palace during its reconstruction subsequent to a fire in 1854, one of the most famous being a cherry tree fusuma-e in the Sakura-no-ma (Cherry Blossom Room).Martin 2002, 307 He died at 59 in 1872, and was buried at Tenshōji Temple.Kyoto Municipal Museum of Fine Arts 1975, 91 Today, his works can be seen in the Kyoto Imperial Palace, the Kyoto National Museum and the British Museum.
Hara Zaisen Zaisen was born in 1849 with the surname Watanabe, and his name changed to Hara at age 9 when he was adopted by Hara Zaishō. His career spanned the Meiji and Taishō periods, a time of great modernization and westernization in Japan. He became fourth head of the Hara academy in 1862 at just 13 years of age.
Zaisen was highly active in the Kyoto art world,Roberts 1990, 39 In 1867, he was selected to represent Japan at the Paris International Exposition. In 1880, he became one of 43 shusshi (appointee) instructors at the Kyoto Prefectural School of Painting (京都府画学校),Sakakibara 1995, 84 where he continued to teach until 1894.The official mandate of the school was "to encourage refinements of fine art, to provide proper foundations for crafts and technical arts, and ultimately to serve society and to perfect culture". Quoted in Sakakibara 1995, 84 From early Meiji on, Zaisen was a committee member in art associations such as the Joun-sha and the Kōso Kyōhai,Harada 1995, 76–77 which organized meetings and competitions. From 1882 through the 1890s, he participated in a number of Domestic Painting Competitions (Naikoku Kaiga Kyoshinkai), at which he won several awards.Kyoto Municipal Museum of Fine Art 1975, 91