Until the Rimpa school became known as such

The school of artists that OGATA Korin established is now often called Rimpa, but it is only in recent years that the word Rimpa has come to represent them.
Until then, they were called by various names.
In the first place, the Rimpa school is characterized by "shishuku" (the method in which a student learns on their own, following the model of a master). How did people come to recognize the different styles of TAWARAYA Sotatsu, OGATA Korin, and SAKAI Hoitsu as one school?
Here, we will look at the process until people recognized the Rimpa school, and consider the background of the time period and its significance.

Portrait of SAKAI Hoitsu

SAKAI Hoitsu: "Ogata style"

SAKAI Hoitsu is an indispensable person to the establishment of Rimpa. He was born in Edo as the younger brother of Himeji Castle lord SAKAI Tadazane, and studied under the Kano school and ukiyo-e artists.
After becoming a monk at the age of 37, he was deeply influenced by Korin and created excellent works. He is especially famous for Natsu aki kusa zu byobu (Flowering Plants of Summer and Autumn). He painted it on the back of the folding screen of Korin's Fujin Raijin Zu Byobu which was a copy done by Korin of the original by Sotatsu. He is thought to be a representative Rimpa painter.
In the latter half of the Edo period, there were many people who exhibited Korin-style works in addition to Hoitsu such as NAKAMURA Hochu, who was active in Osaka.
However, what makes Hoitsu more distinctive than his contemporaries is that he researched Korin's works and literature and showed the results to the world.
Hoitsu and the painters who inherited his style set their main base of activities in Edo, so they were later called the Edo Rimpa).

6) Ogata-ryu Ryaku Inpu, NAKANO Kimei (ed.), Shunyodo, 1892 [15-156]

Cover at the time of reprinting in 1892

OGATA Korin's signature

In 1813, SAKAI Hoitsu published a seal compendium titled Ogata-ryu Ryaku Inpu (Catalog of 16 Ogata Artists). This is book contains signatures and biographies of artists such as TAWARAYA Sotatsu and OGATA Korin, who are now described as part of the Rimpa school, on both sides of individual pages. In 1815, the 100th anniversary of Ogata Korin, Sakai published a booklet version of Ogata-ryu Ryaku Inpu based on this. In this booklet, the school that later came to be called Rimpa is called the Ogata school, and it is believed that this was the beginning of considering them as a school. There are 16 people listed here, including TAWARAYA Sotatsu, TAWARAYA Sosetsu, OGATA Korin, and OGATA Kenzan. In 1892, Ogata-ryu Ryaku Inpu was supplemented and reprinted by Rimpa painter NAKANO Kimei (1834-1892). The signatures of Hoitsu and his disciple, SUZUKI Kiitsu (1796-1858), who is his master, were added.

Meiji period: Formation of the concept of the Korin school

Even after Hoitsu's emergence, works inspired by Sotatsu and Korin continued to be produced.
In response to the growing demand for traditional Japanese crafts from overseas, the First Japanese Manufacturing and Trading Company, a manufacturer and sales company for arts and crafts, was established with the involvement of the government. In this company, artists who followed in the wake of Hoitsu were in charge of drawing maki-e, and they were well received overseas. When people who inherited Hoitsu's painting style came to be active in arts and crafts, they became known as the Korin school because they inherited the style of Korin's painting. The emergence of the term Korin school, which leads to the modern Rimpa school, indicated contemporary artists at that time. For example, at the 1st Domestic Painting Co-Promotion Society, a government-run exhibition held in 1882, SAKAI Doitsu (1846-1913), who inherited Ugean, the home of NAKANO Kimei and Hoitsu, was classified as the Korin school.
Since the opening of Japan, Europeanism had been expanding, but in the middle of the Meiji period, this social trend gradually declined and the momentum for re-evaluating Japanese traditions steadily increased.
Influenced by the activities of Ernest Francisco Fenollosa (1853-1908) and Okakura Tenshin (1863-1913), Japanese art was also re-evaluated. Two books published during this period had a great influence on the formation of the Rimpa imagelater.

List of exhibitions of the Co-Promotion Society

7) Kohon nihon teikoku bijutsu ryakushi (A Shortened History of Japan's Fine Arts), the Imperial Museum (ed.), Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, 1901 [貴7-126]

"Korin school (光琳派)" item in the table of contents.

In 1900, a French book, Histoire de l'art du Japon, was published in Paris in conjunction with the Japanese government's exhibition at the 5th Paris International Exposition. This is the first systematic art history book compiled in Japan. At that time, Japan was trying to catch up with Western countries, so it is believed that this book was written to show its unique traditions and culture to the world.
OKAKURA Tenshin was in charge of the compilation, but due to administrative struggles at Tokyo Fine Arts School, he was dismissed, and finally FUKUCHI Fukuichi (1862-1909) took over.
A Shortened History of Japan's Fine Arts was published in 1901 as a Japanese manuscript based on Histoire de l'art du Japon.
Here, the names of TAWARAYA Sotatsu, OGATA Korin, OGATA Kenzan, WATANABE Shiko, TATEBAYASHI Kagei, SAKAI Hoitsu, SUZUKI Kiitsu, and IKEDA Koson are referred to as the "Korin school." At that time, the Korin school was used for active Korin-style painters, but in this book, the word was used as a historical school of art. This is an epoch-making event in that sense.
The original text of Histoire de l'art du Japon can be found on the website of the National Library of France (Bibliothèque nationale de France).

The first edition of A Shortened History of Japan's Fine Arts was distributed on a very small scale. In 1908, it was reprinted after being revised by ITO Chuta (1867-1954), who is known for the architecture of Tsukiji Hongwanji Temple. After that, in 1912 and 1916, inexpensive reduced editions were published and spread to the people of the world. Throughout the prewar period, A Shortened History of Japan's Fine Arts occupies an important position as a history book of Japanese art compiled by the government, and so had a considerable influence on people's recognition of the Korin school.

8) Kōrinha Gashū TAJIMA Shiichi (ed.), Shimbi Shoin, 1903 [400-55]

Kōrinha Gashū (Masterpieces selected from the Korin school), published in 1903, two years after the publication of A Shortened History of Japan's Fine Arts, is a gorgeous five-volume art book.
It is also noteworthy that this art book, which is named after the Korin school, is edited by the same staff members as A Shortened History of Japan's Fine Arts.
The works featured in this book are mainly by OGATA Korin, but it includes many works by other famous Korin school artists such as OGATA Kenzan, WATANABE Shiko, TATEBAYASHI Kagei, TAWARAYA Sori, SAKAI Hoitsu, and SUZUKI Kiitsu.
It should be noted that HON'AMI Koetsu and TAWARAYA Sotatsu, who are now considered to be founders of the Rimpa school, are not included. This is mentioned in the preface by privy councilor KUKI Ryuichi (1852-1931), who was a major figure in art administration and served as the first president of the Imperial Museum. "In the history of Japanese painting, the Korin school plays a significant role in drawing out the pure essence of Japanese painting. The Korin school is skillful at abstract techniques and its decorativeness is unparalleled in all times and places."

With two books, A Shortened History of Japan's Fine Arts and Masterpieces selected from the Korin school, the term "Korin school" and its concept as a school gradually became established in society. It can be considered that the base of the concept of the current Rimpa was formed in the latter half of the Meiji period.

The 20th Century: the Appearance and Establishment of the Rimpa School

Until the term "Korin school" took root in society, the names for its artists took various forms. As an example, after the TAWARAYA Sotatsu Memorial Meeting held by the Japan Art Association in 1913, where TAWARAYA Sotatsu received increased recognition, there were people who challenged the name "Korin school." Some people called them the "Sotatsu Korin school." In addition, people who focused on the influence of HON'AMI Koetsu called them the "Koetsu school".

Sotatsu's White Elephant

The current mainstream term "Rimpa" is said to be an abbreviation for "Korin school" or "Sotatsu Korin school." Usage examples can be seen in literary works after the Taisho period, for example, Kyoto Diary by AKUTAGAWA Ryunosuke in 1918.
At first, the term "Rimpa" was considered to be a broken word, but in the Showa period, the term "Rimpa" was written by art historian AIMI Kou (1874-1970).
An essay called Rimpa Sodan (Collection of stories about Rimpa) was published in a magazine in 1934 (Toei (Shadow of tower), 10 (1), 1934.1 [雑33-60]). By this time, the term "Rimpa" seemed to be gradually gaining acceptance among people specializing in art.
It is said that the name "Rimpa" was established in society when the Tokyo National Museum held a special exhibition titled "Rimpa" for the 100th anniversary of its founding in 1972.
There was a discussion over the use of Rimpa as the title of this exhibition, but CHIZAWA Teiji, who was the director of the arts and culture division of the Tokyo National Museum, said, "About the reason for the use of Rimpa as the exhibition title… There was no name that was quite simple and easy to understand. It shouldn't be too long. We took the ‘Rin' from Korin." (CHIZAWA Teiji, Over the Rimpa Exhibition, Geijutsu Shincho, 23 (9), 1972 [Z11-97])
Before the exhibition, the term "Rimpa" was still in the process of becoming established, but after the exhibition using "Rimpa" was held at the Tokyo National Museum, it became overwhelmingly mainstream in society. The school name transition in various forms had reached a big milestone. Knowing that there was such a historical background before we naturally used the term "Rimpa" as it is used now, you can feel a different atmosphere from Rimpa works.

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The Rimpa school crosses the sea