Tatebe RYOTAI

Tatabe Ryotai was a Nanga school painter, illustrator, poet and novelist. Born in Mutsu province, he was the second son of Kitamura Shoi, a retainer of the "daimyo" of Hirosaki. First studying painting under Sadadi Hyakusen (1698-1753) in Kyoto, he later travelled to Nagasaki to study under Kumashiro Yuhi (1693/1713-1772). Ryotai at one time became a priest at Tofuku-ji in Kyoto but later returned to the secular world, teaching "haiku" poetry in Edo. Ryotai was an important illustrator, working on the "Kanyosai Gafu" and the "Kenshi Gaen." He also wrote a textbook on painting in the Chinese style, the "Kanga Shi'on." According to Laurance Roberts, whose biography of Ryotai is given here, Ryotai's illustrations are "both bold and amusing...".

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