What’s Amazing About Kōrin Ogata?
Beauty of Iris in Gold Folding Screen
Kōrin Ogata was born into a wealthy family as a son of a kimono merchant in Kyoto.
After his father’s death, he used up all of his father’s money and borrowed money from his brother.His talent bloomed when he became 40 in the field of painting on shoji screen, pottery and fabric.
Feudal lords and court nobles liked his style and started supporting him as patrons. His masterpiece is “Japanese Irises,” later designated a national treasure. Many irises in bloom appear on golden folding screens. He portrayed every minute detail of the flowers perfectly. He was influenced by Sotatsu Tawaraya who painted “The folding screens of Fuujin and Raijin.” He imitated the painting respectfully. It is designated as an Important Cultural Property. Even though many artists have never directly learned from him, his style was a great influence to posterior. The effect was big enough to be established the genre called “Korin”. It looks luxurious because of his original style combined with the beauty of patterns and wabi-sabi. It is evaluated highly worldwide.
Wrote by Shiratama
