# Haiga

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{{short description|Japanese painting style}}
{{Italic title|reason=[:Category:Japanese words and phrases](/source/%3ACategory%3AJapanese_words_and_phrases)}}
[[Image:Basho by Kinkoku c1820.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Portrait of [Matsuo Bashō](/source/Matsuo_Bash%C5%8D) by [Yokoi Kinkoku](/source/Yokoi_Kinkoku), c. 1820. The calligraphy relates one of Bashō's most famous haiku poems: ''Furu ike ya / kawazu tobikomu / mizu no oto'' (An old pond / a frog jumps in / the sound of water).]]

'''{{nihongo|''Haiga''|俳画||extra=haikai drawing}}''' is a style of [Japanese painting](/source/Japanese_painting) that incorporates the [aesthetics](/source/aesthetics) of ''[haikai](/source/haikai)''. ''Haiga'' are typically painted by [haiku](/source/haiku) poets (''haijin''), and often accompanied by a haiku poem.<ref>{{cite web|title=''Daijirin'' entry for ''haiga''|url=https://kotobank.jp/word/%E4%BF%B3%E7%94%BB|work=Kotobank dictionary aggregator website|accessdate=5 November 2012}}</ref> Like the poetic form it accompanied, ''haiga'' was based on simple, yet often profound, observations of the everyday world. [Stephen Addiss](/source/Stephen_Addiss) points out that "since they are both created with the same brush and ink, adding an image to a haiku poem was&nbsp;... a natural activity."<ref>Addiss. p14.</ref>

Stylistically, ''haiga'' vary widely based on the preferences and training of the individual painter, but generally show influences of formal [Kanō school](/source/Kan%C5%8D_school) painting, minimalist [Zen painting](/source/Zen_painting), and [Ōtsu-e](/source/%C5%8Ctsu-e), while sharing much of the aesthetic attitudes of the ''[nanga](/source/nanga_(art))'' tradition. Some were reproduced as [woodblock prints](/source/woodblock_printing_in_Japan). The subjects painted likewise vary widely, but are generally elements mentioned in the [calligraphy](/source/calligraphy), or poetic images which add meaning or depth to that expressed by the poem. The moon is a common subject in these poems and paintings, sometimes represented by the Zen circle ''[ensō](/source/ens%C5%8D)'', which evokes a number of other meanings, including that of the [void](/source/Mu_(negative)). Other subjects, ranging from [Mount Fuji](/source/Mount_Fuji) to rooftops, are frequently represented with a minimum of brushstrokes, thus evoking elegance and beauty in simplicity.

==History==
[[Image:A little cuckoo across a hydrangea(Haiga) by Yosa Buson.jpg|right|250px|thumb|A little cuckoo across a hydrangea by [Yosa Buson](/source/Yosa_Buson).]]

[Nonoguchi Ryūho](/source/Nonoguchi_Ry%C5%ABho) (1595–1669), a student of [Kanō Tan'yū](/source/Kan%C5%8D_Tan'y%C5%AB), is sometimes credited{{By whom|date=November 2012}} with founding the style; though poetry was commonly accompanied by images for centuries prior, Ryūho was the first poet to regularly include paintings alongside his calligraphy.{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}}

[Matsuo Bashō](/source/Matsuo_Bash%C5%8D), the great master of haiku, frequently painted as well. ''Haiga'' became a major style of painting as a result of association with his famous works of haiku.{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}} Like his poems, Bashō's paintings are founded in a simplicity which reveals great depth, complementing the poems they are paired with. Towards the end of his life, he studied painting under [Morikawa Kyoriku](/source/Morikawa_Kyoriku), his pupil in poetry; the works of both men benefited from the exchange, and a number of works were produced combining Morikawa's painting with Bashō's poetry and calligraphy.

Composing haiku, and painting accompanying pictures, was a common pastime of [Edo period](/source/Edo_period) aesthetes, who would pursue these activities in their spare time, or at friendly gatherings as a communal form of entertainment. The famous novelist [Ihara Saikaku](/source/Ihara_Saikaku) was one of many people not normally associated with either poetry or painting, who took part. By contrast, the ''[nanga](/source/nanga_(art))'' painter [Yosa Buson](/source/Yosa_Buson), widely considered second only to Bashō as a master of haiku, is said to be "the only artist to be included in surveys both of great poets and great painters in Japanese history."<ref>Addiss. p15.</ref>

Unlike other schools of painting which maintained a standard set of styles passed from master to apprentice, the genre of ''haiga'' encompassed a variety of artists with different approaches. Some, like Bashō, were primarily poets, accompanying their compositions with simple sketches,{{citation needed|date=November 2012}} while others, like Buson, were primarily painters, devoting more space and centrality of focus to the image.{{citation needed|date=November 2012}} [Maruyama Goshun](/source/Maruyama_Goshun) and [Ki Baitei](/source/Ki_Baitei) were among those who tended to paint portraits of poets and other figures in a relatively quick, loose style which looks somewhat [cartoon](/source/cartoon)ish to the modern eye. Some ''haiga'' paintings, such as those by Morikawa Kyoriku, reflect the formal training of the artists, while others, like those by [Nakahara Nantenbō](/source/Nakahara_Nantenb%C5%8D), reflect the artist's background in [Zen](/source/Zen).

One overall trend that developed over time, despite this wide variety, was a shift from the circles of literati (''bunjin'') painters to the orbit of the [Shijō school](/source/Shij%C5%8D_school) of the naturalistic painter [Maruyama Ōkyo](/source/Maruyama_%C5%8Ckyo). This move was effected primarily by Maruyama Goshun,{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}} and can be seen as well in the works of [Yamaguchi Soken](/source/Yamaguchi_Soken). Some later painters, such as [Takebe Sōchō](/source/Takebe_S%C5%8Dch%C5%8D), were influenced by ''[ukiyo-e](/source/ukiyo-e)'' styles, and used color in highly detailed works.

Though traditional-style ''haiga'' are still produced today, contemporary artists experiment with the style, coupling haiku with digital imagery, photography, and other media.{{Citation needed|date=October 2012}}

==Haiga painters of note==
*[Enomoto Kikaku](/source/Enomoto_Kikaku)
*[Hakuin Ekaku](/source/Hakuin_Ekaku)
*[Kaga no Chiyo](/source/Fukuda_Chiyo-ni)
*[Kobayashi Issa](/source/Kobayashi_Issa)
*[Matsumura Goshun](/source/Matsumura_Goshun)
*[Matsuo Bashō](/source/Matsuo_Bash%C5%8D)
*[Nonoguchi Ryūho](/source/Nonoguchi_Ry%C5%ABho)
*[Sakai Hōitsu](/source/Sakai_H%C5%8Ditsu)
*[Sengai Gibon](/source/Sengai_Gibon)
*[Yokoi Kinkoku](/source/Yokoi_Kinkoku)
*[Yosa Buson](/source/Yosa_Buson)

==See also==
*''[Wabi-sabi](/source/Wabi-sabi)''
*''[Zenga](/source/Zenga)''
*''[Nanga](/source/Nanga_(Japanese_Painting))''

==References==
*Addiss, Stephen. ''Haiga: Takebe Sōchō and the Haiku-Painting Tradition''. Richmond, Virginia: University of Richmond, 1995.
<references/>

==External links==
*[http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/704883.Haiga Haiga: Takebe Socho and the Haiku-Painting Tradition] The University Art Museum on the website of the University of California at Santa Barbara

{{Authority control}}
Category:East Asian calligraphy
Category:Japanese painting

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Haiga](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiga) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiga?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.
