Hashimoto Gahō

Who was Hashimoto Gahō?

Hashimoto Gahō was a Japanese painter, one of the last to paint in the style of the Kanō school.

Born in Edo, he studied painting under Kanō Shōsen'in, and was influenced as well by the work of Kanō Hōgai. He created many works in the traditional style of the Kanō school, using color & gold, or otherwise monochrome black ink. But while his paintings are very much the works of a traditionalist, using traditional methods and depicting traditional subjects, Gahō, like Kanō Hōgai, incorporated elements of Western art as well. Brush-strokes, various types of detailing, and in particular, attempts at the proper depiction of perspective are evident in Gahō's paintings and in many others of this period.

He opened his own studio in 1860, but the political and economic upheavals surrounding the Meiji Restoration forced Gahō to seek income in other ways than by selling fine art. He produced maps for the Naval Academy, painted on fans, and used his skills in a number of other ways to earn a living.

Gahō was invited in 1884, by Okakura Kakuzō, to become the chief professor of painting at the Tōkyō Bijutsu Gakkō which would open five years later. In 1898, Gahō joined Okakura in leaving the Bijutsu Gakkō, and founding the Japan Fine Arts Academy. He would teach there until his death in 1908.