A family-run enterprise, the Kano school of painting was a consistent force in Japan's art world for more than 300 years, from the Muromachi Period (1336-1573) up until its fortune waned in the 19th century.
"Celebrating a Decade in Roppongi, Kano Motonobu: All Under Heaven Bowed to His Brush" at the Suntory Museum of Art focuses on the second-generation leader of the family's artistic activities and collates nearly 100 works by Motonobu (1476-1559), those closely connected to the Kano lineage and earlier works that provided the artist with inspiration. The exhibition's title refers not only to the master's splendid skills, but also the 10th anniversary of the museum's move to its current space, designed by renowned architect Kengo Kuma, in the Tokyo Midtown development in Roppongi.
Motonobu's father, Masanobu (1434-1530) was the first professionally trained Kano artist. Under his guidance, the school gained commissions from Japan's major Zen temples and from the shogunate, but it was yet to earn the kind of reputation enjoyed by other Japanese painting styles, such as its rival Tosa school, which dominated the field of Japanese-style painting, or Yamato-e. It was Motonobu who put the Kano family on the map.