Saru Gallery
       Japanese Prints & Japanese Paintings

Biography Tanomura, Chokunyû 田能村 直入 (1814 - 1907)

Tanomura Chokunyû was born in Bungo province, and worked in Kyoto all his life. He was the pupil and adopted son of Tanomura Chikuden (1777-1835), generally considered one of the best literati painters, who taught him to paint in the nanga tradition. He was one of the founders of the Kyoto Municipal School of Fine Arts and Crafts, he was its first director, and left that position to found the Nihon Nanga Kyôkai. He was a leading figure of the nanga tradition in the Meiji period, and he is generally considered a worthy follower of his master. He is also known as a calligrapher and a poet.