Jōchō
Jōchō (定朝; died 1057
Career
Jōchō trained at the
Jōchō later worked on sculpture for the Kōfuku-ji. This work earned him an even higher title, Hōgen (Master of the Dharma Eye).
Michinaga's son,
Jōchō and his studio are the first verifiable example of a school of Japanese art being perpetuated through Japan's guild-like inheritance system.[4] Jōchō's techniques were passed on to his son, Kakujo, his grandsons, Injo and Raijo, his great-grandson, Kōjo, and ultimately Kōkei. The school started by this last artist would go on to revolutionize Japanese sculpture in the Kamakura period.[4]
Style
Jōchō popularized the technique of creating a work from several smaller pieces of sculpted wood (yosegi). Although it limited the amount of surface detail the artist could carve into each piece,[3] the method forced the sculptor to convey his intended message within these limits. This resulted in more refined and ethereal-looking pieces.[3][4] More importantly, it allowed several assistants to work on the sculpture at once, greatly speeding the process.[2] Jōchō, as the master, did the finishing work.[3] The technique also led to systematized proportions of body parts and simple surface details, as these sped the creation of the constituent parts and the formation of the finished piece.[2]
Art historians often cite this new
The workshop method of dividing work among several craftsmen caught on, as did Jōchō's style. His school was imitated by sculptors across Japan for the over next 150 years, as Japanese sculpture degraded into a conformist orthodoxy before being reinvented in the Kamakura period.[5]
References
- ISBN 9780870991363.
- ^ ISBN 9784770029775.
- ^ ISBN 9780131176010.
- ^ ISBN 9780140561081.
- ISBN 9780511467882.