Sōami
Sōami was a Japanese painter and landscape artist.
Also recorded as Nakao Shinsō · Shōsetusai · Kangaku · Soami
Sōami
Sōami · The Cleveland Museum of Art · John L. Severance Fund · CC0
- Born
- 1455
- Died
- 1525
- Nationality
- Japan
- Occupation
- painter · architect · writer
- Movements
- Ami school
- Known for
- Kundaikan Sōchōki
- Languages
- Japanese
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q2746002 · wikipedia · Sōami
In this article
Family
Family
Sōami was the grandson and son of the painters and art connoisseurs Nōami and Geiami, respectively.
Career
Career
Sōami was in the service of the Ashikaga shogunate and is claimed to have designed the rock garden of the Ginkaku-ji temple. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Sōami's paintings were in the style of China's Southern School; some of his greatest pieces covered over twenty panels, and depicted Japanese landscapes using Chinese methods. His work was among the first nanga or Southern School work in Japan. Sōami is most known for his Landscape of the Four Seasons (Eight Views of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers) (at Archive.org). • Illustration — Li Bai viewing the waterfall at Mt. Lu, by Soami (d. 1525), Japan, Muromachi period, approx. 1500–1525, hanging scroll, ink on paper - Asian Art Museum of San Francisco
Famous works
Famous works
• Ryōan-ji: Zen temple whose rock garden may have been designed by Soami • Seika: A style of flower arrangement supported by Soami • Daisen-in: A Zen temple noted in part for screen paintings attributed to Soami
Identity
Identity
Sōami is recorded with the occupation architect. Recorded with the occupation painter. Recorded with the occupation writer. Recorded as painter, architect and writer.
Gazing at a Waterfall, early 1500s, by Sōami
Sōami · The Cleveland Museum of Art · Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1455
Sōami was born on 1 January 1485.
1525
Sōami died on 12 November 1525.
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Sōami”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q2746002: Sōami
General reference · Wikidata
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Sōami, revision 1333813386 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
Identity and origins. The authorities additionally record the headings Nakao Shinsō, Shōsetusai, Kangaku, Soami and Souami. His recorded language was Japanese. He was the child of Geiami.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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