Life and career
Kōrin came from a Kyoto textile-merchant family and studied earlier designs associated with Sōtatsu and Kōetsu. His mature work crossed painting and designed objects, while collaboration with his brother Kenzan linked pictorial ideas to ceramics. Later Rinpa artists revived his example through selective study, not a continuous hereditary school.
Works across a career
Selected examples, not a complete catalogue. Read date ranges and attributions before inferring a career sequence.
- 01
c. 1700
c. 1700
Plum Tree
- Material / technique
- hanging scroll; ink on silk
- Attribution / role
- Museum attribution
- Collection / source
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
Broad or uncertain date: not a secure career stage.
John L. Severance Fund · Image: public domain (CC0)Museum catalogue note
Ogata Kōrin had to think through his design carefully to create these white plum blossoms and deliver their effect, as he used the reserve technique—where selected areas of the painting surface are left unpainted—to achieve it. He probably roughed in the tree before applying an ink wash to the entire silk surface, except where he intended to place the flowers. He likely then returned to articulate the petals and, in some cases, the pistils and stamens. The composition shows the tree twisting out of view, only to return with a branch of new growth jabbing forth from an old, broken limb, thereby heightening the visual impact of the blossoms.
Collection text · The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0 - 02
c. 1700
c. 1700
Square Dish with Design of Plovers over Waves
- Material / technique
- Glazed stoneware with iron oxide underglaze slip
- Attribution / role
- Designed by; made with specialist craftspeople
- Collection / source
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
Museum catalogue note
The Ogata brothers Kōrin and Kenzan often collaborated on ceramics. This dish is one of a set used for serving tea cakes. Kenzan shaped the dish, after which Kōrin drew the iron oxide design of plovers, a type of shorebird, flying over waves. Kenzan then covered the object with a clear glaze and fired it. Kōrin placed his signature next to his design, while Kenzan signed the back.
Collection text · The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0 - 03
after 1709
View this work at the source
Reference entry · image not reproducedafter 1709
Irises at Yatsuhashi (Eight Bridges)
- Material / technique
- Pair of six-panel folding screens; ink and colour on gold leaf on paper
- Attribution / role
- Museum attribution
- Collection / source
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Materials, marks and colour
Media and surface
Silk painting, glazed ceramics and gold-ground screens carry designs across very different objects.
Marks and structure
Bold silhouettes, asymmetry and repeated motifs organise nature as rhythmic pattern.
Palette and light
Ink, glaze and reflective gold alter brightness and contrast; the ground is an active part of the palette.
Sources and further reading
Original educational interpretation; catalogue descriptions are separately credited. Each study links to its source. Reference entries without images are not added to the comparison timeline.
