Toba Sōjō

TOBA SOJO (lit.- Bishop of Toba, nast. name - Kakuyu) (1053 - 31.7. 1140, Kozanji), Japanese painter, one of the first masters of the Japanese. monochrome ink painting. Buddhist monk. T. S. attributed 4 long horizontal scrolls with islands of expressive, executed in fine graphics. in the manner of images of animals and people in various grotesque situations (the so-called "Scrolls with caricatures of animals", Kozanji Monastery near Kyoto). Many modern researchers deny the authorship of T. S. in relation to these works, considering them the fruit of the collective creativity of artists-monks from Kozanji.