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Rinpa is one of the major historical schools of Japanese painting. It was created in 17th century Kyoto by Hon'ami Kōetsu (1558–1637) and Tawaraya Sōtatsu (d. c.1643). Roughly fifty years later, the style was consolidated by brothers Ogata Kōrin (1658–1716) and Ogata Kenzan (1663–1743).
The term "Rinpa" is an abbreviation consisting of the last syllable from "Kōrin" with the word for ha (with rendaku changing this to "pa"), coined in the Meiji period. Previously, the style was referred to variously as the Kōetsu-ha, or Kōetsu-Kōrin-ha, or the Sōtatsu-Kōrin-ha.
His collaborator, Tawaraya Sōtatsu, maintained an atelier in Kyoto and produced commercial paintings such as decorative fans and folding screens. Sōtatsu also specialized in making decorated paper with gold or silver backgrounds, to which Kōetsu assisted by adding calligraphy.
Both artists came from families of cultural significance; Kōetsu came from a family of swordsmiths who had served the imperial court and the great warlords, Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi, in addition to the Ashikaga clan shōguns. Kōetsu's father evaluated swords for the Maeda clan, as did Kōetsu himself. However, Kōetsu was less concerned with swords as opposed to painting, calligraphy, lacquerwork, and the Japanese tea ceremony (he created several Raku ware tea bowls.) His own painting style was flamboyant, recalling the aristocratic style of the Heian period.
Sōtatsu also pursued the classical Yamato-e genre as Kōetsu, but pioneered a new technique with bold outlines and striking color schemes. One of his most famous works are the folding screens Fūjin Raijin-zu at Kennin-ji temple in Kyoto and 松島 at the Freer Gallery.
His masterpiece Kōhakubai-zu c. 1714–15, is now at the MOA Museum of Art in Atami, Shizuoka. A dramatic composition, it established the direction of Rinpa for the remainder of its history. Kōrin collaborated with Kenzan in painting designs and calligraphy on his brother's pottery. Kenzan remained as a potter in Kyoto until after Kōrin's death in 1716 when he began to paint professionally. Other Rinpa artists active in this period were Tatebayashi Kagei, Tawaraya Sori, Watanabe Shiko, Fukae Roshu and Nakamura Hochu.
Paintings of the early Rinpa artists were anthologized in small paperback booklets such as the Korin Gafu (The Korin Picture Album) by , first published in 1806. This was followed by an original work by Sakai Hoitsu called the Oson Gafu, published in 1817.
Sakai had numerous students who carried the movement forward into the late 19th century, when it was incorporated into the Nihonga movement by Okakura Kakuzō and other painters. The influence of Rinpa was strong throughout the early modern period, and even today Rinpa-style designs are popular. One later artist of note is Kamisaka Sekka.
Subject matter and style were often borrowed from Heian period traditions of yamato-e, with elements from sumi-e, Chinese Ming dynasty flower-and-bird paintings, as well as Momoyama-period Kanō school developments. The stereotypical standard painting in the Rinpa style involves simple natural subjects such as birds, plants and flowers, with the background filled in with gold leaf. This technique is known as gold ground. Emphasis on refined design and technique became more pronounced as the Rinpa style developed.
The Rinpa style flourished in Kyōto, Nara, and Ōsaka, i.e., the political and cultural triangle of ancient Japan. Kyōto and Ōsaka were also two of the most important cities of the Nanga (南画 "Southern painting"), also known as Bunjinga (文人画 "literati painting") school's style; Nanga painting was therefore exposed to the influence of Rinpa painting and vice versa.Marco, Meccarelli. 2015. Chinese Painters in Nagasaki: Style and Artistic Contaminatio during the Tokugawa Period (1603–1868) Ming Qing Studies 2015, Pages 175–236.
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