Sesson Shukei
Quick Facts
Biography
Sesson Shukei (born Satake Heizo) (Japanese: 雪村; 1504 – c. 1589) was a Japanese Zen monk and painter from the Muromachi period.
He is the most important painter who followed the style of Sesshū Tōyō (1420-1506). On the other hand, there is an different opinion (jp) that he was not influenced or affected by Sesshū although he paid his respects to Sesshū (雪舟) by using the same Kanji, 雪, in his name, Sesson (雪村). In any case Sesson was the master of ink painting that Ibaraki Prefecture has ever produced, ranked with Sesshū and called "Sesshū of the west, Sesson of the east". His works are classic examples of Japanese ink painting which was imported via many artists from China. He produced many landscapes such as Eight Views of Xiaoxiang and fictional characters such as Gama Sennin , Tekkai Sennin and Lü Dongbin .
He travelled to Aizu at least twice to give lessons in painting to the daimyō Ashina Moriuji – first in 1546, and then again in 1561 after Moriuki's retirement.