Abstract

NAKAMURA Hôchu has been conventionally known as a Rimpa school painter who published Kôrin Gafu and whose folding screen work entitled "Flowers of the Four Seasons" is now possessed by the British Museum. Some scholars, however, have often pointed out that he was also well connected with other artistic schools led by Taiga, Buson, or Nichôsai. Nevertheless, his raison d'etre as a distinguished painter in the late 1700s and early 1800s has been obscured. The main reason is that people have taken him just as one of many Rimpa schoolpainters and he flourished mostly in the Osaka art circles during the Edo period. This paper explains that it is not appropriate to discuss Hôchu simply as a Rimpa school painter and explicates his views on Kôrin and the figure motifs illustrated in Kôrin Gafu. This paper also tries to put some light upon his close relationship with the world of Haikai and his personal involvement with the Bunjin circles in Osaka. In addition, this paper tries to show how versatile his artistry was and how critical his contemporaries were to his paintings. Through these topics, this paper elucidates Hôchu in a wider context than before