Rimpa is usually defined as an artistic tradition and style begun by Towaraya Sotatsu (years of birth and death unknown) and Hon'ami Koetsu (1558-1637), who were at work during the Momoyama and early Edo periods from the late 16th century to the early 17th century.
These artists may have been credited with starting the movement, but the exhibition currently on show at Tokyo's National Museum of Modern Art in fact begins with two startlingly expressive folding screens by the later artist Ogata Korin (1658-1716). The screens depict "The Gods of Wind and Thunder" and "The Waves at Matsushima."
It was Korin, rather than Sotatsu, the pioneer of the style, who first received attention during the Meiji Period. He studied the approach and techniques of Sotatsu and Koetsu and developed his own style from them. Interestingly, the term Rimpa derives from a combination of the last syllable of Ogata's given name and the word for school, "ha.''