Momoyama: Artistic Visions in a Turbulent Century

Highlights of the Exhibition

 Momoyama Essence: Art for Unifying Figures

The exhibition opens with an array of masterpieces representing the period when regional military rulers strove to unite the Japanese islands under a single ruler.
The changes visible in the Scenes in and around the Capital screens depicting the capital from the late Muromachi to early Edo periods reflect the political and aesthetic changes of the times. The screens are followed by gorgeous wall paintings by major Azuchi-Momoyama period painters Kanō Eitoku and Hasegawa Tōhaku, richly inventive Shino ware and Oribe ware examples of Momoyama ceramics, strikingly visual armor worn in battle by warring states generals, Kōdaiji maki-e lacquer and Nanban arts revealing a wider world view. This lineup of characteristic Azuchi-Momoyama period artworks will evoke a sense of this period when visionary rulers pursued dreams of unification.

Chinese Lions By Kanō Eitoku Azuchi-Momoyama period, 16th century Sannomaru Shōzōkan (The Museum of the Imperial Collections), Imperial Household Agency (On exhibit from November 3 to November 29, 2020)

Gusoku Type Armor with White Lacing Azuchi-Momoyama period, 16th century Sendai City Museum, Miyagi Important Cultural Property (On exhibit from October 6 to November 1, 2020)

Portable Altar with Birds and Flowers Azuchi-Momoyama period, 16th century Kyushu National Museum Important Cultural Property (On exhibit from October 6 to November 1, 2020)

(rightl)  Scenes in and around the Capital (Uesugi Version) By Kanō Eitoku Muromachi period, 1565 Yonezawa City Uesugi Museum, Yamagata National Treasure (On exhibit from October 6 to November 1, 2020)

Cypress By Kanō Eitoku Azuchi-Momoyama period, 1590 Tokyo National Museum National Treasure (On exhibit from October 6 to November 1, 2020)

Maple Trees By Hasegawa Tōhaku Azuchi-Momoyama period, Circa 1592 Chishakuin Temple, Kyoto National Treasure (On exhibit from October 6 to November 29, 2020)

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 A Century of Change: Muromachi to Edo

Here you can compare artworks created over the century between the late Muromachi period to the early Edo period. How did art change during that time? Whether portraits of or calligraphy by emperors Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu; paintings on the same theme created across those periods, or myriad decorative artworks ranging from stationary boxes to tea ceremony kettles, mirrors, and even coins, this selection fully conveys how changing times brought about changing tastes, aesthetics and art.

Portrait of Ashikaga Yoshiteru Painting attributed to Tosa Mitsuyoshi; Inscription by Sakugen Shūryō Azuchi-Momoyama, 1577 National Museum of Japanese History Important Cultural Property (On exhibit from November 3 to November 29, 2020)

Sketch for a Portrait of Toyotomi Hideyoshi Attributed to Kanō Mitsunobu Azuchi-Momoyama period, 16th century Itsuo Art Museum, Osaka Important Cultural Property (On exhibit from October 6 to November 29, 2020)

 Momoyama Prelude: Warring States Aesthetics

The Muromachi period built the groundwork for what would become the glorious beauty and power of Momoyama culture. Lovely gold ground screens depicting the capital Kyoto and large format panel and wall paintings for Zen temples were art forms begun in the Muromachi period. And yet these works emphasized aesthetics that honored the pomp and ritual of ceremonies and events related to the emperor or shogun.
Later, the Ōnin War (1467-1477) and the Meiō Coup (1493) saw the leading culture of the day spread to regional daimyō and to townspeople throughout Japan. Their tastes added a new dimension to earlier art forms as they changed to those of the next era. This section confirms the classic aesthetics of the late Muromachi period and the as yet nascent buds of the Momoyama tastes that would follow.

(right)  Birds and Flowers of the Four Seasons By Kanō Motonobu Muromachi period, 1550 (Tenbun 19) Hakutsuru Fine Art Museum, Hyōgo Important Cultural Property (On exhibit from November 10 to November 29, 2020)

 Making Tea: Chanoyu from Rikyū to Oribe

As the Muromachi shogunate waned, townspeople emerged as the standard bearers of a new age. They studied renga linked verse and the noh theater, and built rustic hut-style buildings in the city where they could enjoy the tea ceremony within suitably wabi settings.
As part of this process Sen no Rikyū (1522–1591), tea master to the ruling generals of the day, created a new form of tea ceremony aesthetic. He turned everyday items into tea utensils and made his own utensils that spoke to him. He broke free from the emphasis on tea utensil provenance and style, instead giving form to tea as a sincere meeting of minds.
Rikyū’s aesthetic had a massive influence on later tea masters. The tea utensils made and used by one such master, Furuta Oribe (1544–1615), exude a powerful and overwhelming presence. Seemingly the direct opposite of his teacher Rikyū’s tastes, in fact, some aspects of Rikyū’s tastes can be found in Oribe’s strikingly chic tea style.

Ki-Seto Vase, known as Tabimakura Mino ware Azuchi-Momoyama period, 16th century Kuboso Memorial Museum of Arts, Izumi, Osaka Important Cultural Property (On exhibit from October 27 to November 29, 2020)

 Mature Momoyama: From Splendid to Stylish

The overwhelming painting style of Kanō Eitoku, the painter favored by Hideyoshi, was preferred by the Warring States generals and became the de facto painting style of the Azuchi-Momoyama period. His successors, however, distanced themselves from ostentatious displays of power, creating instead a world of beauty that emphasized refined elegance and natural harmony. This development also played out in calligraphy, from the uninhibited freedom of Konoe Nobutada to Hon’ami Kōetsu’s calligraphy brushed against a background of underpaintings by Tawaraya Sōtatsu. Ceramics too, there was a shift from accidental and powerful forms to more designed, stylized beauty.
This period also saw the birth of genre painting in Japan, taking the vivid lives of ordinary people, the strutting swagger of dandies as their theme. Carrying on elements from Momoyama arts, the art of the new Edo period had begun.

(left)  Hōkoku Festival By Iwasa Matabē Edo period, 17th century The Tokugawa Art Museum, Aichi Important Cultural Property (On exhibit from October 6 to October 25, 2020)

(detail)  Poems by the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets with Crane Underpainting Calligraphy by Hon’ami Kōetsu; Painting by Tawaraya Sōtatsu Edo period, 17th century Kyoto National Museum Important Cultural Property (On exhibit from October 6 to November 1, 2020)

(detail)  Amusements under the Blossoms By Kanō Naganobu Edo period, 17th century Tokyo National Museum National Treasure (On exhibit from October 6 to November 29, 2020)

 Equipping a General: Arms and Armor

The Azuchi-Momoyama period was a harsh time of constant battles. To cope with the seemingly endless repetition of battles, a new type of armor was developed, the tōsei gusoku, a simplified structure that protected the entire body. A new type of sword mounting, the uchigatana, could be quickly drawn and cut, while long scabbards with swordguards bound on by cords were widely used. All of the armor and weapons used by the Azuchi-Momoyama period generals were further enhanced with decorations and special features, elements to display their rank and personal tastes. With the advent of the Edo period, these expressive means became symbols of military class status and privilege.
This section introduces the “life or death” equipment of generals, which cannot simply be thought of as lively tastes or novel designs.

Gusoku Type Armor with a European-Style Cuirass with Dark Blue Lacing Azuchi-Momoyama–Edo period, 16th–17th century Tokyo National Museum Important Cultural Property (On exhibit from October 6 to November 29, 2020)

Long Sword (Katana), with Katana Style Sword Mounting on Red Lacquer Attributed to Bizen Motoshige [Blade] Nanbokuchō period, 14th century [Sword Mounting] Azuchi-Momoyama–Edo period, 16th–17th century Tokyo National Museum Important Cultural Property (On exhibit from October 6 to November 29, 2020)

 Towards Peace: Art for a New Shogunal Era

With Tokugawa Ieyasu’s defeat of the Toyotomi forces in the Osaka Summer Campaign, he declared a new reign name of Genna and the end of an era of war. The Edo shogunate headed by the Tokugawa family established a series of laws and edicts regulating the behavior of the military class families and thereby ushered in a new era of real peace in the land.
Nijō-jō Castle was the Tokugawa family residential castle in the city of Kyoto, and they adorned it with wall and panel paintings, adding a quiet sense of strict dignity to the magnificence of the Azuchi-Momoyama period. The provenance of tea utensils handed down from the powerful members of the Muromachi shogunate was revered and they became a status symbol of the new elite, while near godlike status was accorded to the items owned by the Edo shogunate’s founder Tokugawa Ieyasu.
This final section introduces the new social order created by the Edo shogunate at the end of this century of tumult.

(detail)  Pine and Hawks Sliding Door Panels and Wall Paintings By Kanō Sanraku Edo period, 1626 Former Imperial Villa Nijō-jō Castle Office, Kyoto City, Kyoto Important Cultural Property (On exhibit from October 6 to November 29, 2020)