Korean, 7th century, male.
Active in the early 7th century.
Painter.
Doncho was a Korean Buddhist monk from the state of Koguryo, who probably arrived in Japan in 610, bringing with him the knowledge of making colours, paper and ink. In this way not only Buddhist art but also a new technique and new materials were introduced into Japan, and would subsequently form the basis of Japanese art. According to the guide of the Horyu-ji temple in Nara in the 1920s, the murals in the ...
Korean, 6th century, male.
Painter.
Buddhism arrived in Japan from China (via Korea) in the second half of the 6th century AD. With it came Buddhist art and the techniques and materials on which Japanese art would be built. Although nothing is known of the life of Hakuka, he is known to have been one of the Korean artists who, together with monks and architects, went to settle in Japan in 588. As such, he contributed to the spread of Buddhist art in Japan. He came from the Korean kingdom of Paekche, known in Japanese as Kudara....
Chinese, 8th century, male.
Active during the second half of the 8th century.
Painter. Horses.
Although Han Gan painted figures, notably Buddhist frescoes, he is known principally as a horse painter, and the subject was elevated to the status of a genre partly on account of him. The importance of this genre may be explained by the significant role horses played during the Tang dynasty in China (618-907); the tool of conquest and of expansion towards central Asia, they were directly linked to the expansion of the Chinese empire’s geographical and cultural horizons. In addition, they were associated with various aristocratic entertainments, such as polo, hunting and jousting, and they were particularly prized at court, where huge, splendid stables were maintained. The imperial stables were home to 40,000 horses when Han Gan was summoned to work there. The best artists were invited to do portraits of the emperor’s favourite mounts, especially as a large number of these horses were sent to the capital as tribute by the distant regions of Ferghana and Khotan, and the paintings also immortalised the tribute paid by foreign nations to the Chinese court. As such, they take on a historical dimension....
Chinese, 8th century, male.
Activec.730-760.
Born in Jiangan (Shensi).
Painter.
Lu Lengjia is often mentioned as the most important pupil of Wu Daozi (active in about 720-760). He is known for his mural paintings in Buddhist temples, and more generally for works on religious subjects. The municipal museum in Osaka has in its collection a painting of the Ming period which was a copy of a scroll by Lengjia: ...
Chinese, 8th century, male.
Active in Chang’an during the Tang dynasty in the first half of the 8th century.
Painter, sculptor. Murals.
Yang Huizhi sculpted clay landscapes and Buddhist figures, and painted frescoes.
Chinese, 9th century, male.
Active in Chengdu (Sichuan) c. 825-850.
Born in Changan (Xian, Shensi).
Painter.
Zhao Gongyou painted Buddhist and Taoist figures. He initially lived at Chengdu, where he painted murals for a number of temples, later moving to Zhejiang. A fragment from a handscroll in the British Museum, ...
