The Kano School: Orthodoxy and Iconoclasm

More than forty years ago, the painted sliding panels from Tensho-in temple in Kyoto, executed by the renowned Kano master Sansetsu (1589–1651), were sold in Kyoto. One set went to the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the other to The Metropolitan Museum of Art. For the first time since their dispersal, the two sets of screens, each consisting of four panels, are reunited in this special installation in the Arts of Japan galleries. Also on view are works by several generations of Kano school painters, who, as the official artists for the shoguns, dominated the field of Japanese painting until the onset of the twentieth century. Other painters represented, such as Hanabusa Itcho (1652–1724) and Kitagawa Utamaro (1753–1806), were trained in the Kano school but rebelled against its orthodoxy. The exhibition is a vivid reminder of the Kano school's bold contention that it provided the basic training for all Japanese painters during the Edo period (1615–1868).

This exhibition is made possible in part by The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Foundation, Kokon, Inc., and Leighton R. Longhi.