Sōami

Squirrel on a Bamboo Stalk, painting bearing the signature and seal of Sōami, Honolulu Museum of Art

Sōami (相阿弥, died 1525) was a painter and landscape artist in the service of the Ashikaga shogunate who is claimed to have designed the rock garden of the Ginkaku-ji. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Sōami's paintings were in the style of China's Southern School; some of his greatest pieces covered over twenty panels, and depicted Japanese landscapes using Chinese methods. His work was among the first nanga or Southern School work in Japan.

Sōami was the grandson and son of the painters and art connoisseurs Nōami and Geiami, respectively.

References

Etō, Shun, Sōami•Shōkei (from the series Nihon bijutsu kaiga zenshū), Shūeisha, Tokyo, 1979.