{{Short description|Head of the Kei School of Japanese Buddhist Sculptors}} {{Infobox artist | name = Kōen<br />康円 | birth_date = 1207 | death_date = 1284-1285? | known_for = Busshi | movement = Kei School | image = Sanjusangendo 1979.1.55P01B.jpg | caption = Six statues of Kannon are attributed to Kōen }}
'''Kōen''' (Japanese: 康円; <abbr>c.</abbr> 1207{{snd}}1285) was a Japanese Buddhist sculptor (busshi) of the Kei school in Nara during the Kamakura period.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Japanese Busshi (Sculptors), Kamakura Period, Who Made Japan's Buddha Statues? |url=https://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/busshi-buddha-sculptors-kamakura-era-japan.html#koenGS |access-date=2024-05-01 |website=www.onmarkproductions.com}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Roberts |first=Laurance P |title=A dictionary of Japanese artists : painting, sculpture, ceramics, prints, lacquer |publisher=Weatherhill |year=1976 |isbn=9780834801134 |location=New York |pages=86 |language=English}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/920017477 |title=Kamakura: realism and spirituality in the sculpture of Japan |date=2016 |publisher=Asia Society Museum ; Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-21577-9 |editor-last=Covaci |editor-first=Ive |location=New York : New Haven |oclc=920017477 |editor-last2=Asia Society}}</ref> A grandson of the sculptor Unkei, and apprenticed by his uncle Tankei, he carried on the Kei school during the late Kamakura period, which is known for adding realism to Japanese Buddhist sculpture, which have reflected and influenced later periods of Buddhist art.<ref name=":1" />
== Career == The Keiha is a multigenerational Buddhist art studio based out of Nara, responsible for the reconstruction and commissioning of several temples during the aftermath of the Genpei War under the support of the Kamakura shogunate.<ref>{{Cite web |title=JAANUS / Keiha 慶派 |url=https://www.aisf.or.jp/~jaanus/deta/k/keiha.htm |access-date=2024-05-01 |website=www.aisf.or.jp}}</ref>
With the lineage of sculptors starting with Jōchō, Kakujo, and Raijo, it was Kōkei who made the Keiha school prominent, followed by that of the sculptor Unkei and Kaikei. Unkei had six sons: Tankei, Kōun, Kōben, Kōshō, Unga, Unjo, who subsequently ran the studio.<ref name=":0" />
Kōen, the son of Kōun, was born around 1207. In the early stages of his career, he was apprenticed to Tankei, and assisted in the creation of the central Senju Kannon statue at Sanjūsangen-dō, of which in addition, six of the one thousand Kannon statues are attributed to him.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book |title=Sculpture of the Kamakura period |date=1974 |publisher=Weatherhill/Heibonsha |isbn=978-0-8348-1017-4 |editor-last=Mōri |editor-first=Hisashi |edition=1. Engl. |series=The Heibonsha survey of Japanese art |location=New York [usw.] |editor-last2=Eickmann |editor-first2=Katherine}}</ref>
In 1251, he acquired the titles of ''shō busshi'' and ''hōgen.'' When his uncle, Tankei, died in 1256, Kōen became head of the Kei school, acquiring the title of ''dai'' ''busshi.<ref name=":1" />''<ref name=":2" />
He died approximately around 1284 or 1285, with 30 surviving works attributed to him.''<ref name=":1" />''<ref name=":2" />
== Significant Works == With 30 total works attributed to him, Kōen utilized the standard styles created by Unkei, which emphasized on realism and dynamic displays with bold poses, with examples including deep folds in the drapery of the statues.''<ref name=":1" />''
* '''Jizō Bosatsu''', Museum of East Asian Art (Cologne) (1249)<ref name=":2" /> * '''Senju Kannon,''' Sanjūsangen-dō with Tankei (1254)<ref name=":0" />''<ref name=":1" />'' * '''Senju Kannon,''' Tōdai-ji (1256)''<ref name=":1" />'' * '''Enma''', '''Taizan-o, Shirokuzō, Shimeizō,''' Byakugō-ji (1259)''<ref name=":1" />'' * '''Shitenno''', Atami Art Museum (1267)<ref name=":0" />''<ref name=":1" />'' *'''Attendants to Jikoku-ten and Zochoten,''' Tokyo National Museum (1267)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nishikawa |first=Kyōtarō |title=The great age of Japanese Buddhist sculpture, AD 600-1300 |last2=Sano |first2=Emily J. |date=1982 |publisher=Kimbell Art Museum ; Japan Society |others=Kimbell Art Museum, Japan House Gallery |isbn=978-0-912804-07-1 |location=Fort Worth : New York}}</ref> * '''Fudo-Myo''' '''and his Eight Attendants''', Kannon-ji, Tokyo (1272)<ref name=":0" /> * '''Monju Bosatsu and Four Attendants''', formerly Kōfuku-ji, Nakamura Collection,Tokyo (1273)<ref name=":0" />''<ref name=":1" />'' * '''Aizen Myoo''', Jingo-ji (1275)<ref name=":0" />
== References == <!-- Inline citations added to your article will automatically display here. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:REFB for instructions on how to add citations. --> {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koen}} Category:Kei school Category:1200s births Category:1280s deaths Category:Japanese Buddhists Category:Japanese sculptors Category:13th-century Japanese people Category:13th-century sculptors Category:Year of birth uncertain Category:Year of death uncertain