Hasegawa Tōhaku

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Hasegawa Tōhaku (長谷川 等伯 Hasegawa Tōhaku, 1539-1610) was a Japanese painter and founder of the Hasegawa school of Japanese painting during the Azuchi-Momoyama period of Japanese history.

Tōhaku started his artistic career as a painter of Buddhist paintings in his home province of Noto, Japan. After moving to Kyoto around the age of 30, he developed his own style of Chinese-ink painting. He later shifted to decorative standing screen, sliding door, wall, and ceiling paintings, rivaling Kano Eitoku and competing for the favor and patronage of Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

After Eitoku's death in 1590, Tōhaku stood alone as the greatest living master of his time. Becoming an official painter for Hideyoshi, producing some of his greatest and most elegant paintings.